Harry Potter: Time Squared
by SongOfStars
Summary: When an accident sends Harry from his Fifth Year to the Marauders' Fifth Year, he tries to amend the mistakes Time has made. But someone he least expects becomes his worst enemy. J/L (Not part of the 'Legacy' series!)
1. Chapter 1

**Harry Potter: Time Squared**

 **Disclaimers:** I don't own anything … & yes I totally ripped off a Star Trek: The Next Generation episode title. Sue me.

 **AN:** Yes. I am doing one of 'those' stories. (No there is no similarities between this & the Star Trek episode but the title only.) Harry time travels to the Era of the Marauders. All us Harry Potter writing fans seem to have at least one of these banging about our profiles & I was beginning to feel left out. So here goes nothing.

(((Reposted due to error. Thankfully I managed to save the reviews from before, but not the fav or follow lists ... oh well.)))

 _ **PLEASE READ THE FIRST PARAGRAPH OF MY PROFILE BEFORE READING THIS STORY. THANKS! : )**_

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 **Summary:** When an accident sends Harry from his Fifth Year to the Marauders' Fifth Year, he tries to amend the mistakes Time has made. But someone he least expects becomes his worst enemy.

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 **Harry Potter: Time Squared**

(Remember: read the first paragraph of my profile before continuing. Thanks.)

 **(1) Right Place, Wrong Time?  
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Harry & Professor Snape shared a glare before Snape said, "Don't touch anything, Potter!"

Harry nodded mutely, but Snape didn't see as he had already turned around to head for his desk on the opposite side of the classroom. He made to follow Snape but at that moment, everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. He tripped & hit the table full of various vials of potions & ingredients that had been put there by the class during their potions lesson, waiting to finish brewing. There was a soft popping sound & a deep blue cloud swirled around Harry's head as he tipped forward & face-planted the floor. His head hit the leg of the table on his way down.

Harry rubbed his forehead with one hand, then slowly sat up. Glancing around, he saw that he was still in the disused classroom but Snape had gone. He wondered dimly if perhaps he had gone to fetch Umbridge after what happened. He knew he would probably get detention with Umbridge for the rest of his life for this. He had come here to check up on his own potion, not expecting Snape to even be around. Now he felt miserable, that his life was over. One moment can screw everything up! He had simultaneously destroyed the entire class's work for the day, just by tripping on nothing. It was a wonder Snape didn't murder him for the mess.

Harry sat down on a chair, waiting for Snape to return, but after several minutes he glanced around, wondering if he had been forgotten. His head pounded, partly from being hit & partly from an actual headache. At last, he decided to write a note to leave on the desk.

Going to the hospital wing for a moment. I will come back shortly.

~Harry

Half wondering if leaving on his own would cause more trouble, but not really caring; Harry left the note on the dust-covered desk & left. He was half way to the hospital wing when something slammed him from behind. Harry went sprawling on his face & felt a weight fall onto him.

"Blimey mate," A male voice huffed in his ear. "I thought you heard me coming!" The weight lifted off as Harry groaned. "I've been looking all over for you." The voice went on accusingly. "Ya know, if you were going to sneak off to catch another look at that Evans girl, you could have told me!"

"I was going to the hospital wing," Harry groused, slowly pulling himself up to his feet. "I have a head ...head…ache."

Sirius Black was standing in front of him, looking down at the nails on his left hand. A young Sirius Black. "Oh I know the sort of head ache you have Hornhead. Nothing a good wank can't handle." Mouth open, Harry just stared. "Anyway," Sirius blinked up at him then glanced down the hall. "Moony's about to start his patrol so we better scramble or else Prefect Loopy will go nuts!" At that, Sirius dashed off towards the Gryffindor Tower without even a backwards glance.

Dumbfounded, Harry stood rooted to the spot. What the hell had happened? He stood there, trying to think. Sirius Black. Young. Slowly, Harry started to move. Sirius had just called him Hornhead & Harry knew by now what that had entailed. James had been a stag named Prongs. But that had been years ago, back in the 70's some time.

Harry wandered through the dark hallways, habitually taking routes only the Map showed. He came out by the glass cases where a golden shield stood that had his father's name on it as a Seeker. Harry stared into the case, looking for it. He realised with a jolt, it wasn't there. "No, it can't be..." Harry gasped softly in shock. Had he really time-traveled? He had been through that once before to save Sirius from the Dementors, but that had been within one day. He warily glanced around, hoping no one else had seen him. Harry put on his Invisibility Cloak & hurried to the Great Hall.

The castle was dark save for a few silvery reflections of random ghosts, a fire still glowing here & there & a few torches that annoyingly sprang to life when he passed. Suits of armour also had to be avoided as at night, they emitted a violet wedge shaped ray that swung back & forth & if it struck someone, an alarm would sound & the person would be stuck in its gaze. Harry slowly pushed open the door to the Great Hall barely enough for him to slip inside, wincing when it creaked a little. He ran up to the dais by the Staff Table where records of visitors to Hogwarts, or incidents in the Great Hall, among other things, were recorded. Harry glanced down at the date.

December 1975.

Harry blinked. "OH NO!"

It was perhaps by sheer dumb luck of the Potter family that Sirius had barely glanced at him, or else he'd have noticed the lightening scar & the green eyes, neither of which were trademarks of James. Moony ...that would be Professor Lupin, or perhaps soon-to-be Professor? A Prefect. So Fifth Year. Harry fell cross-legged to the floor. He was in 1975! He sat quietly, trying to think things through.

"What was that?" A girl's voice rang out.

"I'm not sure Lily," answered a voice Harry knew too well. Even at this young age, Remus still sounded like himself. "It came from over there."

"Damn it!" Harry muttered to himself, hating werewolves for the first time in his life. Remus would not only hear him quite well, he would smell him. It suddenly dawned on him that this 'Lily' would most likely be his mother. Harry got up & slipped backwards through a small side door to get out of the hall the moment Lily & Remus entered it through another door nearly opposite him. Harry was glad he had gotten into the habit of keeping his Cloak & Map on him at all times. As he ran as quickly but silently as he could, he cast soft scents of magic behind him & down hallways left & right to get rid of the werewolf.

"Stupid wolf," Harry grumbled as he re-entered the old classroom where he was going to be tortured many years from now. "Last thing I need!" He sat down in the chair, crumpled up the note & set it to Incendio. He tried to think but all he could come up with was that Sirius, that is to say his Sirius years in the future, never bothered to mention the fact that though James was never a Prefect, Lily was. He shook himself. Fuming about Prefect badges was not a priority right now. At the moment, Harry had to figure out how to keep Moony off his case, not screw up the time lines too much, get back to his own timeline & maybe fix things along the way.

'You can't change events in time Harry,' Hermione's voice screamed in his head.

Harry cast the idea aside. He was so far back now that he could do whatever he wanted. Who would know?

'You would.'

'Who cares?'

'Awful things happen to people who meddle with time.'

Harry sighed, wishing Hermione's voice would go away. Awful things had happened to him without the use of Time. What would it matter?

'You must not be seen.'

This was the only piece of advice Harry agreed with. Especially since he looked a lot like James, the questions of where he, Harry, came from would go through the roof. Then Harry had a nasty thought of what if Lily fell for him instead of James & then he, Harry, would either cease to exist or end up being his own father.

"That won't be happening," Harry declared. Right. First thing was to change his appearance. Polyjuice was out of the question as it took a month to brew & he was horrible at potions. Plus it only lasted an hour. He needed a more lasting solution. Harry covered himself with the Cloak once more & headed for the library.

Harry stayed there all night & had moved into the Restricted Section in the early morning. He awoke with a start as a book flapped by, smacking him in the face. He sat up & stretched, then wondered where the hell he was. Then he remembered that not only the where but the when was important. He glanced outside a tall slim barred window on the second floor of the Restricted Section. He had found nothing that was simple & quick to do to change his appearance. He had to resort to using his Cloak until he could figure things out. A stupid thought of being missed in class sprang to mind. Harry had to remind himself that no one knew about him here yet. He had all day. He would steal some food from the kitchens & get right back to work on fixing his looks first.

It wasn't until late that evening, with Harry slinking about under Cloak trying not to bump or be bumped by people, that a solution so simple it was ridiculous, presented itself. It was about a half hour after the last class was finished. Harry had spent most of the time in the Library. He had seen Remus & Peter (which nearly made him jump out to attack Peter right then & there), then Lily with a cluster of girls & then a group of four Ravenclaw girls from Seventh Year had come in, tittering & giggling.

Harry was about to pass them by when he heard one say, "I think I'll use this one this time. It'll change my hair color." His ears perked up & he began to listen intently. He moved closer to get a look at the books the girls were using.

Beauty tips. Harry stared at the titles. 'Do the do? Hair styles men go crazy for!' It was full of interesting hair styling tips, including change of color, length & shape. Curly or straight. Apparently, men would go crazy with these hot styles.

'Mystic Lashes' Get the length you want & bat them at the boys!

'Winks of Color' Want a dazzling eye color? Just a blink away!

Harry groaned. Most of these books seemed to be geared for women.

"How long would that last, Bertha?" another girl asked.

"Hmm lets see," Bertha scanned the page. "Six months. It's a simple potion to. It only takes an hour & a half. We drink it & go to bed. Next morning, it will have an effect for a while."

Harry liked simple & long lasting. The girls cackled about their nails, the guys they were currently with, compared their breast sizes (Harry nearly past out) & soon swept away, still giggling. Harry followed them under Cloak as they were going down to the dungeons to make their potions. He had every intention of swiping some of them. He needed new eyes & a hair change. His only hope was that he didn't screw up & end up with luscious bouncy blond curls down to his waist or gigantic mammary glands.

While the girls brewed their potions, Harry snuck away to grab several empty vials. When he returned, he sat on a stool in the corner & tried not to eaves drop on their gossip. Tried that was, until Lily Evans became the topic. Harry listened with rapt attention.

"You'd never catch Lily Evans doing this," Amanda was saying, checking herself in her hand mirror. "She yelled at me once for growing my lashes too long. Thinks they made me look like a whore." Harry couldn't help but agree. All these girls were rather vain it seemed.

"What do you expect?" asked Cecilia. "She's a lion & she's a Prefect."

"Plus she probably doesn't want any of us seducing her man away," Bertha muttered.

Harry smiled. So James & Lily were already together. Problem solved.

"Her man?" asked their fourth friend, Jolene. Out of the group, this one seemed to be the quiet one. "Who's that?"

"Oh please," Bertha sniffed. "She's always hanging out with him. It's obvious. I mean, I got nothing against him. Out of that gang, he's the nicest. But you got to admit, there is something very ...odd...about that Lupin boy."

"LU—" Harry nearly yelped out loud. Lupin? Since when?

"Oh yeah," Jolene nodded. "Those two do hang out a lot. Yet that moron won't leave them alone."

"James Potter won't leave anyone alone," Amanda muttered. "Why he is the most stuck up son of a troll I have ever known!" It was with immense effort that Harry didn't hex her. She leaned over her cauldron for a moment & Harry suddenly had an idea.

"Don't get me started on him," Jolene added. "Lily can do better. She did, didn't she, if she really is with Lupin?"

"I would think so," Bertha nodded. "Lily is always hanging out with him. They have the same interest in the library to."

"He's nice enough," Cecilia shrugged. "I've partnered with him a few times. Great duellist. But I agree, something is weird about him."

Harry smiled sadly. How many people had actually figured Remus out yet didn't care since nearly everyone liked him? He got up quietly & went to grab some random ingredients. The potions were nearing completion & Harry was fortunate that he didn't need Amanda's breast enlargement one. As he moved around them, he discreetly shot a bolt of power into the shelves & several jars of ingredients blew up.

"Oh no!" All four girls jumped & wailed. They left their cauldrons for a moment to hurriedly pick up the mess. Harry dipped one vial into the hair color changing potion, one into the eye color & dropped a few random things into Amanda's potion as he passed by to dip one last vial into a skin toning solution.

Harry left with his full vials & returned to his empty disused classroom. The hair color was supposed to last six months while the eye change would last four. It would give him plenty of time to practise & perfect the potions on his own. The skin tone one lasted only eight weeks, but still enough time to work on it.

He downed his vials, wincing at the hair one which tasted dreadful. After a few moments, he felt his skin literally crawl & he swayed on the spot. There was a moment of nausea & then he felt clear headed once more. He glanced at the window but his reflection was still familiar. He knew he couldn't go to the Tower looking like this, so Harry resorted to making a little bed out of sight under a large desk. It was a good thing he spent the better part of his young life in a cupboard. The small space was comfortable. He covered himself with the Cloak which not only concealed him from view but was also quite warm despite the cold of winter's night.

Harry again woke up with a disoriented feeling before remembering not only the where but also the when of his situation. He wondered what the beauty potions had done to him as he slowly unfurled himself from the hidden bed. He may be used to small spaces, but he himself was no longer that small. He stretched out stiffly as he got to his feet.

Half terrified of what he would look like, he walked to a long mirror on one wall that had webs across it. He burned the webs away, instinctively felt his chest (it was still mercifully flat) & after a long hard breath, stepped up to the glass.

A boy with copper hair, violet eyes & darker tanned-like skin looked back at him. His hair, once messy & angled every which way, was now just a little wavy & longer. He lifted up the bangs. The lightening scar was still there but at least this hair kept it more hidden. He stepped back, inspecting his new look. He took off the glasses & decided to get them changed later so as not to imitate James in any way.

There was little trace left of James or Lily. Apart from the scar, Harry didn't recognise himself. Satisfied that he wouldn't draw attention to himself compared to James, Harry put the Cloak away & headed out into the school. He was still wearing his Gryffindor robes under his winter coat so he blended in easily with the crowd.

Easily that was until the first break. Harry headed out to the familiar beech tree by the lake, only to find all four Marauders nestled by it already, munching snacks & poking at homework. Harry walked right on by pretending to go somewhere else. He didn't stop to look at them or even acknowledge them so he had to learn the hard way never to turn his back on James Prongs Potter without giving him the royal respect he thought he deserved.

Harry landed on his face for the second time in twenty four hours. He heard laughter from the Marauders as he flipped over to his back. He brushed the snow off his face, then looked up into the eyes of his father, glaring down at him. "Hi," Harry smiled. He couldn't possibly know the horror he had just roused.

James glanced ahead at the lake, then back down at his own son. He smirked, sending Harry a vicious glare. "Who the hell are you?"

Harry blinked. What was his father so mad about & why didn't he think of a new name before even daring to come close to James? "Uh."

James cocked his head. "Can't remember your name? Did a snake get to you?"

"What?" Harry asked stupidly.

"Well," James began with a bossy sort of air that reminded Harry of Hermione, but with a more sinister attitude. "You're wearing Gryf's robes but I know you're no lion. I've been here over five years but never saw you. So you're either a snake trying to get in or a snake got to you & is using you to gain information on my house!"

"Sorry," Harry stood up. James watched his every move like a hawk. "Neither. I'm just here for a short time on a visit. I will be in Gryffindor during my stay." He offered his hand.

James crossed his arms. "Nobody gets into my group." Harry stared at him, lowering his hand. He noticed Sirius, Remus & Peter all watching intently, each with various degrees of wicked smiles on their faces. "Who are you?" James demanded again.

"I," Harry began, then bent over pretending to brush snow off as he thought. He came up with one name after another, each more revealing than the first. Charlus Evans. No, that's Grandpa & Mum. Harry Evans. No, still too close to Mum. He certainly couldn't use James.

"Well?" James snapped. "I won't ask again! You'll be sorry."

Harry smiled to himself, feeling as if he had done something wrong & his father was scolding him. He had always wondered what that would be like. He stood up straight. "Jason. Jason Dursley." He hated using his aunt & uncle's name but at least Vernon Dursley was not part of the picture yet. Jason had been one of the many kids Dudley beat up every Tuesday.

"Well Jason, Jason Dursley," James huffed. "You stay away from my boys, understand?" Harry cast him a confused look. "I don't know who you are or anything about you. Don't think you can come by here unannounced, hoping you can glean information. Got that?"

"Yes sir," Harry muttered, not getting it all. He seemed to have said something right.

James inclined his head. He liked being called 'Sir'. "Good. Have a nice stay at Gryffindor."

"Thanks," Harry said as he slowly moved away. He wondered if this was some sort of initiation rite for new people James met. He moved away & disappeared into a grove of trees. James had turned back to the others. Harry slipped on his Cloak & watched them for a moment before slowly moving closer, taking care to stay on a hard packed track & down wind of Remus. He had hoped his father would be a bit more welcoming, maybe not as another Marauder but at least as another lion. Harry had wanted to talk with James & get to know him. Why was James driving even another Gryffindor away? Harry felt rather hurt at the rejection. The next moment, he told himself he was being silly. James didn't know he was looking at his son. James didn't really reject him, not like that. Harry moved slowly closer so he could hear them talk.

"You sure showed him," Sirius snickered.

"Jason Dursley," James sneered, raising his head & huffing. "I got to look that guy up. I didn't hear about any transfers or whatever." He looked at Remus but the wolf glanced at the ground. "How do we know this new guy isn't coming around looking for stuff on us, on you?"

Harry suddenly understood. James was protecting Remus. Of course! Any new folk could be a potential werewolf killer.

"Nearly my entire family are," Sirius paused, glancing at Remus. "Are hunters."

"Exactly," James went on. "We can't trust anyone just like that." He huffed again.

"Jim," Sirius said in a warning voice. "Calm down."

"Are they coming out again?" James passed his hand through his hair. "Good thing I have naturally messy hair."

Harry shook himself & stared at James's head. Some of his father's hair was sticking up more sharply than usual & as he watched, the angled locks of hair slowly lay flat.

"Bloody horns," James complained as Sirius shook his head. Harry's heart thudded so loud it was a wonder Remus didn't hear him. He was sure he may have just seen the points of his father's antlers!

"We're just starting to get the hang of this," Sirius said. "It will take awhile to control that stag of yours."

"All he needs is a damn good rutting," Remus snorted.

James glared at him, then looked back over the grounds, spying a group of girls coming down. "Hey Evans!" The girls stared at him as they continued on their way. His horns pricked up. James passed a hand though his hair to keep it messy & hide his points. "Hogsmeade for Christmas. I'll see you at noon?"

"I'm not going," Lily shot back & it was quite clear that she hated James.

"Aw come on girl!" James cooed as Sirius buried his face in Remus's shoulder, sobbing. "You have to go sooner or later."

"I'M NOT GOING!" Lily screeched & marched away, nose in air.

"Curse these horns," James rubbed his hair again, watching Lily leave. "I'll get her. Just you wait."

"I won't bet on it," said Peter.

"Neither will I," Sirius said & Remus shook his head.

James made a weird squealing whistle-like sound & stamped his foot. "Thanks for the votes of confidence."

"Shh!" The other three hushed him.

"Boy you want to get us caught?" Sirius snapped. "Rein that animal in now!"

"Working on it," James shrugged, plopping down in the snow bank.

"Work faster," Remus ordered.

Part of Harry wished James would lose it. He wanted to see Prongs. The stag was the only Marauder he had never seen in animal form. He had seen the others, even unfortunately Moony which nearly got him killed. But he knew it would get his father & Godfather landed in Azkaban for illegal Animagic. Peter to, but Harry didn't care about that. It would probably get Remus slaughtered as well.

He left them alone, making his way back to the castle. Once inside, he put away the Cloak & sat at a table in the library to work on changing the appearance of his glasses. He soon had them shrunk to a sophisticated rectangular look, but the lens was now wrong for him. He wore them for the moment, planning to go out & get some proper ones next Hogsmeade weekend. Next he decided to brush up on some homework Professor Sprout had given them. Harry wondered for how long he could just play the role of yet another Gryffindor before the Professors caught on. Now that James had got his hackles up, Harry was sure he wouldn't last more than a day or two before everyone would ask, 'Who's that Dursley kid?' & point at him.

Harry got up & headed towards the next class, Defence Against The Dark Arts. He wondered who would be teaching & hoped it wasn't someone as bad as Snape & Umbridge. Knowing his luck, he probably got landed with a demon for a teacher. He arrived about ten minutes early & pushed open the door. Entering, Harry saw several pictures along one wall of various creatures that seemed other-worldly. He noticed a few ghosts & poltergeists. A man was standing by the desk with his back towards him, bent over a box.

The man turned suddenly & Harry had to suppress a gasp. He was looking into the adult face of Remus Lupin. For a fleeting moment, Harry wondered if he had gone back to his own time automatically, but upon a closer look, he noticed that this man had no scars on his face.

"Ah you're a bit early," the man said. "I'm Professor Lupin."

"Lupin?" Harry stared. Perhaps Remus was also using glamours to hide his scars. "What are you doing here? What's going on?"

"Well," Lupin laughed. "I'm teaching the OWL's class this year. So that's why I'm here. Little Ray was really happy when he found out." Lupin smiled as Harry noted the sarcasm.

"Little Ray?"

"He's in Gryffindor like you," Lupin went on. "My son Remus."

"Oh!" Harry finally realized. He could barely contain his excitement. Two Professor Lupins? Say goodbye to Um-bitch! "Wait, you call him Little Ray?" Harry burst out laughing. Oh to be in his own time again. He could use this. He could REALLY use this!

"I always call him that," Lupin smiled but then, his face soon fell slightly. "How is ... how is he doing?"

"I don't know," Harry shrugged. "I just got here really. Visiting. I haven't really seen anyone yet."

"Oh well," Lupin stood straight. "You'll like it. I went to school here to Mr. uh …?"

"Po—Dursley," Harry nearly slipped up. "Jason Dursley." At that moment, the door opened & Harry glanced around. He locked eyes with his father for a moment as the rest of class had appeared & began pouring in.

James looked away almost immediately, ignoring him. He sat down near the back next to Sirius while Peter took a seat just in front of them. Remus, glaring so much Harry could see a hint of gold, stomped to the front & sat down. He politely rolled his eyes up to his own father, waiting.

"Alright everyone," Lupin began, as he just like James, ignored his son. (He at least knew his son was there, Harry reminded himself.) "Turn to page one twenty seven. We will start on Poltergeists today."

Harry soon figured out where Remus got most of his mannerisms from. The father & son were nearly identical, even in looks but for the scars. However, Harry somehow knew that Remus would unleash the wrath of Moony on his arse if he ever dared to point these facts out. It must be hell, being stuck with a parent all year at school. Hovering & nagging & of course, if a young teenage boy wanted to do what young teenage boys do, he'd have to be extra careful. Harry tried hard not to smile throughout the whole lesson.

At the end of that lesson, James & Sirius were the first ones gone so Harry could do nothing about approaching them. He lingered a bit, trying to catch maybe Remus but he was walking resolutely towards the door.

"Ray I'll see you at five tonight. Don't think I've forgotten your detention."

Remus huffed but didn't look back. "Yes sir," he mumbled, leaving at last. Harry was close behind. So that's the problem. Remus had detention with daddy on top of it. It was all Harry could do to keep from bursting out laughing.

"Is something amusing?"

Harry stared. Aw crap! Had he really laughed out loud? Remus was glaring at him with an unnerving unblinking stare. "Nothing," Harry mumbled. "It's nothing. See you later."

Remus let him pass. Instinctively, Harry dipped his head, showing submission to his Alpha. He was after all, the only pup ever born into the pack of the Marauders. He heard Remus huff but didn't dare look up. The last thing he wanted right now was to have his ass handed back to him by Remus Lupin. Harry knew better than to challenge Moony with anything, even a look. Remus clasped his hands behind his back & followed. "Who are you?"

A question was permission to interact. So Harry looked up. Remus seemed curious now instead of defensive. "Jason Dursley."

"I heard that back at the lake," Remus went on conversationally. "But who are you really? You just show up out of nowhere & somehow a Gryffindor."

"Just temporary," Harry shrugged. "Both my parents were in Gryffindor to. Since I'm just visiting, I picked that House."

"I didn't see you in the common room last night," Remus tried another angle.

"Oh I fell asleep in the library."

"Ahh," Remus breathed, smirking. "I think I'll like you when you do show up in our dorms. But don't let that happen again." He puffed up his chest. "I am a Prefect. Since you're new, I'll let it slide just this once."

"Sure," Harry grinned. "Thanks Mm—Um Remus right?"

Remus sent him a questioning look. "Yeah. Remus Lupin."

"So that's your dad then?"

Remus groaned so much it was nearly a growl. "Don't remind me. All he does is hover & worry."

"He's your dad."

"I don't care," Remus went on stubbornly. "He's keeping such a close eye on me. I'm not a baby anymore. I need my space. I've got my boys. They can watch over me." Harry smiled to himself at the term 'my boys' while Remus went on. "Papa watches me so closely, he caught me in the act of trying to set up a prank for some snake. I've been stuck in detention with him for nearly a week," Remus turned to walk backwards a bit, looking Harry in the eye. "He's driving me mad—WHOA!"

Crash! Remus & a suit of armour had an all-out battle of Armageddon for dominance on the floor.

Bang! The visor snapped shut.

Screech! Remus's fingers of his right hand had been bitten by the closing visor.

Clatter! Remus scrambled to his feet & kicked the helmet hard down some stairs. This only made matters worse as now his left toe was smarting. Swearing profusely in French, Remus was quite literally hopping mad on the spot.

"Are you ok?" Harry gaped at him, caught between amusement & shocked horror.

Remus finally stopped hopping & swearing. He inspected his bruised fingers, grumbling under breath. All he could see was gold right now & it took all his willpower to shove Moony aside. When at least his vision cleared, he looked up at Harry. "I'm an absolute peach, Dursley!" He snarled. With a wave of his wand, he righted the suit of armour, but didn't bother with the 'flipping' helmet stilling lying on the 'flipping' floor one 'flipping' level down. He licked the bruises across his knuckles, then shook his hand, trying to get rid of the sting. As they finally continued on their way, Remus went on. "Oh I hate Papa right now! Detentions are just the half of it."

Harry finally let out the laugh that had been killing him for the past hour. "Trust me, it can't be as bad as from where I came from. You have no idea." They rounded the corner & came upon James & Sirius.

"You'll have to tell me some time," Remus said as he headed to James's side. James pulled him close, then shot a dark look at Harry before grabbing Remus by the hand & pulling him away.

Harry watched them go down the next set of stairs. "Don't worry Dad. Your werewolf is safe with me." He sighed heavily before following from far behind.

The rest of classes were like how he remembered Hogwarts to be. No Umbridge. No stupid rules. No blood quill. Most of the teachers were the same, only younger. As usual, the Dark Arts teacher was a new one, but being another Lupin, Harry felt like he was reliving his third year without the horrid Dementors & having a wild & free Sirius Black with no care in the world. The only difference really was Professor Kettleburn for Care Of Magical Creatures (though Hagrid was still around as Gameskeeper), & Professor Slughorn instead of Snape for potions. Harry didn't mind him. He seemed a bit frivolous at times but he wasn't mean & treated students more or less fairly. His only fault was dividing students by importance. He liked popular people while the rest were just there for show. Whatever. Harry felt he learned more in that one class of potions then he did in his entire four & a half years of Hogwarts. He was paired with Lily Evans on top of it & she was amazing at brewing. It left Harry wondering why he wasn't so good at it; although, he seemed to be doing better here.

"It's because there are no Slytherins this time," Lily said. "We usually do class with them but occasionally we get Ravenclaw instead. Rarely Hufflepuff." Lily seemed to think that giving Harry a running commentary would be great since he was new. "But honestly, I wish we'd share with either the Claws or the Puffs more often 'cause when its with the Snakes, those four," She shot a scathing look at the Marauders that for some reason Harry felt it was for his father alone. "Cause a scene."

"I heard us lions don't get along well with the snakes," Harry said.

"There are spats now & then," Lily said. "Unless of course those idiots are involved." Harry didn't need to ask who the idiots were. "I think either James or Sirius did something today. Did you hear what happened to Amanda Perthkins?"

"No," Harry shook his head, wondering who that was.

"She's a Claw," Lily explained. "Apparently she had made a simple beauty potion yesterday. Now she's in the hospital with supersized breasts the size of large jack-o'-lanterns."

Harry suppressed a snort. That girl deserved that for talking against his father. "I hope Pomfrey can fix her." was all he could say before adding, "Both my parents were in Gryffindor."

"Oh?" Lily looked up from their cauldron. "How come you weren't here before now?"

"Hmm," Harry cast around for a moment. "I move around a lot." He checked on the Marauders, then wished he hadn't. James was looking at him with such vileness that he actually feared his own father. "Remus seems ok." Harry quickly added mulberries to the cauldron.

"Oh yeah," Lily agreed. "He's very sweet."

"Is he your boyfriend?" Harry blurted out before he could stop himself. He went red in the face but Lily burst out laughing so much that Slughorn glared & went "SHHHH!"

"No no," Lily said in a whisper. "Good heavens, is that what the gossipers are saying? Last week I was gay & sleeping with Marlene apparently."

"Oh," Harry was no stranger to gossip. "I understand perfectly."

"Ray's just a friend," Lily went on. "It's amazing how nice he is even though he's mixed up with that lot. He keeps telling me they're not that bad. Peter is ok to I guess."

"No he isn't," Harry muttered.

Lily looked at him for a bit. "Well he isn't as nice as Ray," She shrugged. "He follows the other two like a puppy. Peter's somewhere in between Ray & those idiot Black cousins."

"Black cousins?"

"Yeah," Lily nodded. "James & Sirius are both of the Black family."

Harry was stunned. He was related to Sirius? "Really?"

Lily nodded. "I think that's why those two are so vicious. They're purebloods & since they inbreed so much, they're killing themselves off. But the inbreeding is making them slowly insane."

Harry chanced another look at the Marauders. James & Sirius were partnered at one table while Remus & Peter were together at the table beside them. James was glaring down into his cauldron at the moment, but the second before Harry looked away, James glanced up & their eyes met again. James glared & raised his hands in a 'dude-quit-staring-at-me' way. Harry shrugged & focused on Lily.

James clutched a quill in his fist, glaring at Jason Dursley. How dare he sit there, talk to HIS girl & stare at him any chance he got? "What's with that guy?" James muttered.

Sirius glanced around, noticing the quill was bent more than it should be. "Jim, you're going to br—"

SNAP!

The quill bent over & broke in two. James continued to grip the bottom half in his hand while the top half fluttered to the floor. Sirius rolled his eyes. James suddenly stood up. "Keep an eye on that," he pointed to the cauldron before moving away.

"Why do you think Remus likes them?" Harry asked, curious to know how much his mother knew at the time.

"I don't know," Lily scoffed, stirring the cauldron. She & Harry both suddenly jumped as something hit the table. James's palm.

"Hey Evans," James smiled at her. He pointed at a ginger root. "Can I borrow this?"

"Borrow? Are you planning to regurgitate it afterwards?"

Harry turned his face away to the wall, mouthing the words 'Oh wow Mum' as his eyes leaked tears.

"You know what I mean, girl!" James said.

"Take the damn thing," Lily glared up at James then told him to go away using two very unlady like choice words. (Harry buried his face into his arm to keep from yelling 'MOTHER!' out loud.)

"That's my girl," James smiled. He turned to leave, shooting another nasty look at Harry before he sat down next to Sirius again.

"That was awesome," Harry put a hand up & they high-fived.

"I'm not your girl," Lily grumbled under breath. Harry glanced back at James who merely made a slitting motion across his throat.

Harry gulped. He finally figured it out. James was the same age as him but with twice the hormone power due to improper training of Animagic. That stag was putting him in the rut ...& Harry had just touched the one he had marked for his own doe by high-fiving her. Harry felt he would be in big trouble. James was nothing more than one giant hormone on legs. Four of them, counting Prongs. Everything inside him screamed to stay the hell away from James & Lily but he knew he was already too late. What would his father do to him when class was over soon?

As Lily returned to her gang of girlfriends when they were dismissed twenty minutes later, Harry wisely fell away from her & the Marauders. He disappeared into the library, hoping that either no one, or at least Remus, would come in. Then he remembered. Classes were over now & Remus was in detention with his father. Harry hoped the other Marauders were equally as occupied. He had to think about what to do. He had thought of going to Dumbledore but what & how to tell him without distorting the timeline? He stayed until the librarian, Madam Pince, shooed him out. It was late & getting cold.

Worried about what his own father would do to him when they met again, Harry slowed as he came to the portrait. He knew the dorms had a guest room for transfers that could hold upto twenty four extra students. He had planned to sneak in there under cloak but he had forgotten one tiny detail. The Fat Lady was there still. She looked at him, smoothing out her hair, waiting. Harry realized he didn't know the password. He waited for a while but no one came or went & it was just past nine. Right. Harry put on the cloak & headed back to his disused classroom. Tonight, he would plan out his conversation with Dumbledore & first thing in the morning, he'd talk to him.

* * *

 _(If you still haven't read my first paragraph in my profile **READ IT** **NOW** **!** Thanks so much!)_


	2. Chapter 2

**(2) Battle Of The Potters**

Harry jerked awake early the next morning to shouting outside the classroom door. He quickly got up & ran to the door. As he opened it, the sounds became more understandable.

"You won't get away this time Snivelus!" James bellowed. He had his wand raised & several spells in quick succession shot out of it. "Get back here!" He charged forward.

"I'll go head him off!" Sirius shouted, moving away from James.

"Alright," James agreed as their voices faded away. "We'll get him this time for sure!"

Harry rubbed the back of his head, wondering what that was about. He hurried forward, but was sure to stay well behind James. The group dashed outside two oaken carved doors leading to one side of the castle & Harry let them bang closed, creating even more space between him & James. Harry moved down the corridor, planning to go out the next side door. He put a hand on the brass knob & then yelped as the whole thing was wrenched away.

"You!" James & Harry complained at the same time.

"Sorry," Harry stepped aside.

James considered him a moment but Harry wasn't sure if James was actually taking a moment or had been stunned as Sirius suddenly slammed into him from behind. The pair of them tipped forward & collapsed into a pile at Harry's feet.

"For Merlin's sake Padfoot!" James snarled. "You idiot!"

"Sorry," Sirius was clearly anything but sorry.

The Black pair got up. James punched Sirius on the shoulder then, ignoring the whining, he turned to Harry. After a short hesitation he asked, "You see any snakes come by here?"

"Just those two girls," Harry pointed at two Slytherin girls who were walking past.

James barely glanced at them. "What are you smiling at?" He was once more on Harry's case.

"You two falling over," Harry said. In truth, he was talking to his father, not some photo or memory but he couldn't say that, though he wanted to.

"Oh ha ha," James scoffed. He nudged Sirius. "Let's get going or we'll lose him!" Sirius nodded & the two sprinted back out the door into the grounds. Harry tried to follow, wondering who had made his father so mad but he soon lost track of the pair outside.

Harry wended his way around & back inside through the main doors. He had been fortunate that he was wearing his winter cloak, gloves & hat when the slipstream happened, but it was all he had besides the Invisibility Cloak, so he had to be careful not to get too damp until he could find a secondary set of clothes.

He soon ended up in the Great Hall as breakfast was about to start. Lily appeared beside him a moment later. "Hey I looked for you in the Tower last night," she began. "Couldn't find you, so here are some notes on that potion we were working on."

"Oh thanks," Harry laid them by his plate as the doors banged open.

"Oh no," Lily groaned. "Here they come. I'd really watch out for those two if I were you." She sauntered off down the table to her group of girlfriends. Harry watched her leave, then glanced back at his father & godfather. Why did she hate them both so much?

James & Sirius took seats on the other side of the table from Harry & a bit down from him, somewhere in between him & Lily. Harry was able to hear bits of their conversation when Remus & Peter joined them, forming a line of all four Marauders on one side.

"We got him really good this time," James said.

"I reckon we won't see him all day," Sirius added.

"Guys, um hello?" Remus pompously puffed up his chest, pointing at his badge.

"Aww waddya gonna do about it?" Sirius cooed. "Give us detention?"

"Maybe he'll make us write lines," James snorted.

Sirius gasped in horror. "He might make us use a blood quill!"

"OH NO!" James yelped, thoroughly …not... horrified at all.

"No but I am going to go to Dumbledore if you keep this up," Remus scowled.

"Like that will help," Peter said. "Nothing can stop these two."

Sirius & James smiled broadly while Remus scowled. Harry watched Sirius who was just diagonally from him. Sirius soon glanced in his direction. Harry leaned forward a bit. "Have you ever had to use a blood quill?"

"No," Sirius laughed. "I don't think those are even real. I read about them in a book once but never saw one."

"I saw one," Harry muttered under breath, glancing at the old scar on his hand.

"Wow you must be mixed up with something dark if you saw one of those," James glared.

Harry stared at him. That was the last thing he had expected to be accused of! "No, but I ran into someone who is."

"Hmm," James still wasn't impressed. "Stay away from people like that. You don't want to end up like that lot." He jerked his thumb in the direction of Slytherin's Table.

"Definitely not," Harry said, deciding then & there to never ever tell his father that the hat wanted to put him in Slytherin.

"Hardly any good comes out of that House," James went on. "Especially in this day & age, what with the war going on." Harry's mouth went dry. He had forgotten that the war was still going on here. "Of course, it does occasionally turn out a good one. My Mum's a Snake. But she's also really old & came out of that House before it started crawling with wanna-be Death Eaters."

It was all Harry could do to not show surprise. He bent over, pretending he had dropped something on the floor. No wonder the hat wanted him in Slytherin. No wonder! He had snake ancestry! "Don't judge a book by its cover, right?" Harry said when he sat straight again as Sirius leaned over to James.

"I'm telling your Mum you said she's old!" Sirius snickered.

James punched him on the nose. While Sirius whined, clutching his face, James went on. "Then there's this idiot here," he needlessly indicated Sirius who was still whining. "My cousin. He's literally the white sheep of the Black family." He laughed as Sirius glared at him.

Harry laughed as well. At that moment, breakfast appeared & not much more was said while they ate. Harry purposely acted as though he wanted things that were near James to get his father to pass him stuff. At last, it was starting to look like they were becoming friends, or at least acquaintances. Perhaps James wouldn't cause any trouble for Harry over Lily after all.

"Post here!" Peter called out as the familiar whoosh was heard & a moment later, owls descended on them, bearing gifts.

"Ah, I was hoping for some of these," James took a small box from a barn owl as Harry instinctively looked for Hedwig, then realised with a jolt, she wasn't even hatched yet. Neither was her mother either, most likely. Harry watched James open his box & was dimly reminded of Draco Malfoy getting sweets from his mother. "Mum's cookies, oh & look Sirius. She put a cherry cake in here to."

"Does your Mum bake?" Harry asked. In a long long long round-about way, he was hoping for a taste of his Grandmother's cooking.

"Oh yeah," James said. "She's really good. Here, try one."

And just like that, one of Grandma's cookies landed in front of Harry who wasn't sure whether to eat it or frame it for all eternity. "Thanks D—" Harry bit his tongue before changing what he nearly said. "Looks good."

James cut the little cake into four equal portions & gave three to Remus, Sirius & Peter. Harry longed to try that cake to but knew he was lucky with what he got. When James wasn't looking, he pocketed the cookie. He thought about compromising by eating half of it so he can keep the other half. He glanced up at the Marauders quickly & locked eyes with Remus before both returned to their plates.

Harry took note of all four of them while they finished breakfast. He could see how Remus was so changed from when he had known him. This young wolf pup didn't seem to have a worry in the world. He was also dressed as richly as Sirius & James & Harry wondered if the pair was responsible for that. Sirius was among the most handsome of the lot & Harry noticed how girls from all Tables would steal glances at him. Sirius had lost a good deal of his looks from being in Azkaban.

James however, confused Harry. He wasn't quite like how Harry had imagined him. In looks yes, but not behaviour. Harry was told little about James apart from him being very brave & loyal & Harry had been under the impression James had been a teacher's pet, favoured for good deeds, what with the way the Professors prattled on about him on the rare occasion they would talk. But now that Harry was here, he found James to be somewhat hardened, boastful, aggressive with girls (namely Lily) & he liked being the center of attention, which was the exact opposite of Harry outside of Quidditch. Harry's heart stopped. Quidditch! He would get to see his father fly! In fact, Quidditch seemed to be the only thing the same between them; though, Harry wasn't too sure about even that at the moment. The Seeker's Shield didn't exist here. Harry sighed. He'll just have to wait to find that out.

Both Sirius & James were always dressed like the entitled princes they apparently thought they were. Their robes were hemmed with real gold. They had the richest fur garments for winter & both even had a golden sheath attached to their belts for their wands. James also wore a small round black ring on his right middle finger. There seemed to be a picture etched into it but Harry wasn't close enough to be sure if it was actually carved or a trick of the light.

Finally, he checked over Peter. That fifteen year old boy was so different from the man in the Shrieking Shack. Peter had a shoulder length pony tail, neatly tied back. He even sported a bit of a beard. Nothing of Wormtail was visible in Peter's features. His sharp blue eyes were merry not scared & always focused on his three friends. He was actually a quiet, handsome man; though nothing compared to Sirius as far as looks were concerned, but still a good looker. Where had things gone so wrong?

When breakfast was over & everyone was getting up to leave, Harry glanced at James one more time & noticed that he wasn't heading for the door. James picked up & closed his box of sweets, catching Harry's eye as he stood up & turned for the Staff Table. "Maybe we'll catch up with you later," James said. "What did you say your name was again?"

"Jason Dursley."

"Alright," James nodded. He tugged on Sirius. "See you later."

Harry didn't see his dad again until class. James & Sirius had come in last & took the seats closest to the door. They past through the first period without incident & Harry's insides slowly settled. He was slowly but surely befriending James. During the first break, Harry went to the library to catch up with Lily on their potions homework.

"Did you know that ingredients can be substituted at times?" Lily pulled down a book on potions & showed Harry one recipe. "Sometimes not following the set recipe is even better. I found this," she indicated the fourth line. "Instead of ground moonstone, try ground ruby."

Harry read the description over again. "I can add that in the evening. I have to talk to Dumbledore before the next class."

"Ok," Lily closed the book, but kept her finger in the place they had just checked. "I'll have to show this to Sev. He loves potions. But I haven't seen him all morning. Those two probably got after him again." She sighed heavily. Harry was about to ask who everyone was when he heard a yell.

"Knock it off!" James shouted, standing in the doorway of the library but looking down the hall at someone Harry couldn't see. He bent down to pick up a book he had dropped & tucked it into his bag. He crossed his arms, then turned & marched into the library. James glanced around as if looking for something ... or someone. He suddenly spied Harry by the table farthest from him. "There." James pointed directly at Harry, who glanced around nervously.

Looking back at James, he saw that Dumbledore himself had entered. Harry felt both relieved to find Dumbledore without having to track down passwords but also annoyed at the fact that it was James after all who had ratted him out. Harry glared at James who smiled smugly back. In that moment, Harry's allegiance switched. His mother was his outmost favorite parent. But he was starting to have the same feelings for his father as Remus did for his. James marched away, head held so high in the air his nose was actually pointed to the ceiling. Dumbledore came towards them.

"Well," Harry cast a quick smile at his mother. "Problem solved there."

"Your problem perhaps," Lily was glaring at the place James had disappeared. "I just know Sev's trapped somewhere. I still have to find him."

"Good luck," Harry moved to meet Dumbledore.

"So," Dumbledore stopped in front of Harry. "Mr. Dursley."

"Professor," Harry began. "We need to talk. Can we go somewhere …" He glanced around. "More private?"

"Yes," Dumbledore agreed. "I think that should be wise."

Dumbledore led Harry away, back through the school & upto the stone gargoyle. They went up all the way to Dumbledore's office. Fawkes was a pile of ashes at the moment. Dumbledore sat down at his desk & pointed to an armchair in front of him for Harry who nervously sat in it & felt as if he was back at his hearing even though the chair was comfy & had no chains. But one thing was different. Dumbledore not only looked at him but also spoke to him.

"Well now," Dumbledore began. "Mr. Potter has told me an interesting story." Harry groaned, mentally cursing his dad. "But I'm sad to say," Dumbledore went on. "That we have no records of any temps at all this year, not even a Jason Dursley." He leaned back in his chair & looked at Harry expectantly.

"I was going to come talk to you today without his help," Harry complained. "I just needed time to find words to explain."

"Have you had enough time?"

"Mostly," Harry sighed, inwardly smiling at the irony. "I'm from the—I'm actually Harry Ja—I mean," Harry fell silent, realising that no matter what he said, it would sound weird. Dumbledore waited. Harry took a breath & then said in one go," James-is-my-dad-I'm-from-the-future-my-fifth-year-back-to-his-fifth-year." There it was done.

"From the future?" Dumbledore raised his brow. Harry nodded. "James Potter is your father?" Harry nodded again. "Well this is rather unexpected."

"I can prove it," Harry said. "In my first year here, you will leave a large package from my father in the common room, along with a note. Apparently, you wanted his Invisibility Cloak for some reason. I still have it & it still works." Harry pulled the Cloak out & laid it on the desk. "You can borrow it for a bit & compare it to my Dad's cloak he has right now. It's the same one."

Dumbledore stared at the old relic. He passed a hand over it. "It does look similar to what Mr. Potter has now, but the same one? Do you know how old this Cloak is?" His eyes never left the watery material.

"It has to be at least over twenty years," Harry shrugged.

Dumbledore got up & went to the window. He stood silent, thinking. After several minutes, he came back & felt the Cloak over again. "It ...can't be."

"Your Christmas note says that Dad left it in your care sometime in October 1981," Harry left out the fact that James had died. "Then you gave it back to me."

Dumbledore stared at the Cloak for so long that Harry wondered if he had forgotten Harry was there. Dumbledore spoke so suddenly, Harry was startled. "So you say James Potter is your father?"

Harry nodded. "I also actually look like James but with my mother's eyes. These," he indicated his light brown hair & violet eyes. "are just glamours out of a beauty tips book."

"Those won't last then," Dumbledore began.

"Oh I know," Harry said. "Just a few months for some of them."

"Try a few days," Dumbledore said. Harry looked shocked. "Those are for women only. So unless you are a witch on top of it all, it won't last as long."

Harry immediately clasped both hands to either side of his upper chest. "Will there be any permanent damage?" he gasped.

Dumbledore laughed softly. "No, no. It just won't last as long. Don't worry. There are alternatives for wizards." He got up & moved around the desk to Harry. "Also, beauty glamours aren't very reliable either. There is a simple spell to take a peek underneath them. I'm going to perform it on you now to see what you really look like." Harry gulped but waited. Dumbledore lifted the glamours, took one look at Harry & stumbled backwards until he was leaning against the desk. "Upon my word!" Dumbledore stared at Harry. "You & James Potter are nearly identical."

"In looks only," Harry said. "I take after my mother otherwise. Unless it's Quidditch of course."

"Hmm yes Mr. Potter is a good Chaser," Dumbledore slowly went around the desk again but didn't sit down.

Harry whispered to himself under breath. "Chaser?" That wasn't right. His father was a seeker. Had coming here already changed things without his knowledge?

"Would you allow me to take a DNA sample?" Dumbledore asked. "I can compare it with what Madam Pomfrey has on record for James Potter."

"I wouldn't mind any test but," Harry began. "I don't know if we should tell a lot of people I'm here. Least of all my parents."

"That is a wise decision," Dumbledore nodded. "But I am perfectly capable of doing the charm myself."

"Oh? Well, alright then," Harry gave in.

Dumbledore soon had some of Harry's blood in a vial without having to injure him. "Unlike muggles, those with magic have properties of powers they may inherit from their families. Checking DNA for us is much more complex." He sat down again, putting the vial to one side. He indicated the Cloak & waited until Harry had put it away before going on. "I'll need a detailed account of how you time travelled as well. We can use it as a model to reinvent the incident & hopefully send you back where you belong."

Harry inwardly sighed. He knew more or less of the potions since that lesson was still fresh in his mind, but he wished Hermione was with him to perfect the details. "It was my last potion lesson of that time. I'll try writing it out."

"Excellent," said Dumbledore. "In the meantime, I see you are already in Gryffindor. Have you the password yet?"

"No, I keep forgetting to ask Moo—er uh, Remus," Harry said.

Dumbledore's eyes bore into Harry's. "What do you know of Mr. Lupin?"

"Oh I know he's a wolf," Harry waved it away with one hand. "I know that Dad, Sirius & Peter all help him out when they can to."

"I see," Dumbledore sighed. "Do not spread it around though. Only the staff & those three know."

"Where I come from, everybody knows," Harry said. "Professor Lupin—that is to say Remus—taught Defence Against The Dark Arts during my third year. You're going to hire him."

"Oh I am, am I?" Dumbledore smiled softly. "In the meantime, I hope his father's lessons will interest you."

"Much better than the nutter I got in my Fifth Year," Harry said. "Professor, I'll try to stay out of time's way as much as possible, but if you ever hear the name Dolores Umbridge, just ban her from Hogwarts please?"

"I will keep that in mind," Dumbledore said. "Gryffindor's password at the moment is Lun-Areis. Stick to your Jason Dursley persona for now. I will see you in the evening at five with some proper potions for you to keep up your disguise."

Harry nodded. "Thank you sir."

"At the end of the last class, tell James Potter to come see me," Dumbledore went & when Harry stared at him, he added. "No we are not telling him about you if we can avoid it. Also there is one more thing." He looked Harry over. "If you go accessing your own vault right now, you'll alert two Aurors. Both Charlus & Dorea Potter are the main holders of the vault & they will discover you. They're among the finest Aurors we have." Harry smiled at the thought. Dumbledore continued. "Hogwarts school does have its own vault for temps. I will withdraw an amount for you to use. Hogsmeade may have a few shops to help you out while you are here."

"I don't have my form with me," Harry said. "Sirius signs it for me in my third year but that's ages from now."

"Sirius Black?"

"He's my Godfather," Harry said.

Dumbledore considered that information for a moment. The boy seemed to be hiding something. "Temps are treated a little differently. You would require Headmaster approval, not Guardian, as often most temps are from other countries so they already would have a Guardian signing for them to allow them to come to the school. I will write you up for the visitation rights & give both that & your sponsor funds as well tonight."

"Thank you sir," Harry felt relief. He had been wondering if he could go to his vault or not without being noticed or have James breathing down his neck again. Now he didn't have to worry. At Dumbledore's dismissal, Harry hurried to the next class just in time.

The glare James sent him was the cherry on top. Harry waltzed into the greenhouses & continued with class as if all was well & the best of all, he had won out over James. Harry sent his dad a big grin & a thumb up. "By the way, Dumbledore wants you in his office after all classes today." He turned away not waiting for a reply, still grinning. He wasn't going anywhere for a while, no matter what James wanted. His dad would just have to learn the hard way that no, he can't always have his way after all.

James knocked over a pot full of earth. "I hate that guy," He muttered, making Sirius laugh. "Really. I do!"

James didn't even look in the direction of Jason Dursley after that. He had been so sure he'd be rid of the guy once Dumbledore was alerted to the fact that there was a supposedly new student in the lion's den. His plan had backfired horribly & so there Jason stood, smiling & laughing away with two other classmates, one of whom happened to be the beautiful Lily Evans.

"James, you're cracking your Fireseed!" Sirius poked him in the ribs.

James dropped the pod just in time. It was starting to smoke. "Who is that guy?"

"I dunno," Sirius muttered, not caring. "But he did say he's here for a visit. I doubt you have to worry about anything."

James watched Jason leave as class came to a close. "There's something about him that just ...just ..."

"Just makes you want to lash out irrationally?" Sirius finished with a smirk that James seriously considered hexing off his face.

Oblivious to James watching him, Harry tramped through the snow quickly, hoping to get to a nice warm fire to warm up. He entered a long corridor via a small side door & wended his way upto the third floor, habitually using lost pathways without thinking. He came out from behind a portrait near Myrtle's bathroom & turned left in the main corridor. Harry paused as he heard thudding & muffled yells. Thinking Peeves might be around, he ducked into the bathroom to hide for a moment.

"Finally," Myrtle groused the moment the door banged shut. Harry turned sharply & went right through her. She didn't seem to care. "I just came up the pipes from the lake & I found him in my stall all tied up. He says he's been yelling for ages for help."

Harry heard the pounding nearer to him & someone call out, "Is someone there? Help!"

Harry went to the stall door but couldn't push it open. "I can't open the door. Can you move back?"

"No," the soft male voice said dejectedly. "I'm all tied up & my wand was tossed into one of the sinks out there."

"Hang on, I'll look for it." Harry walked up & down the rows of sinks with Myrtle floating behind him. He soon saw a black wand partly sticking precariously down the drain pipe. Grabbing it, he returned to the stall & rolled it under the door.

"Thanks," said the voice. "But I still can't reach it."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Alright, close your eyes. I'm just going to blast this door down. Ready?" He soon had the door in bits & pieces at his feet. Looking in, he saw someone hanging upside down with his robes all up over his head. The wand lay useless on the floor. The boy struggled some more, only succeeding in getting himself more entangled. "Don't move!" Harry began. "There seems to be a jinx on your robes to. I'll get you down."

Harry pointed his wand at the boy's ankles which were attached firmly to an overhead pipe by red ropes that looked like flames. A Carpe Retractem spell had been used to bind the boy upside-down. Harry noticed the red ropes going down through the robes. He slowly began to cut through it, trying not to take away too much at a time so as not to risk making their victim crash to the floor. After about ten minutes, Harry had worked through enough & knelt on one knee by the dangling boy. "I'm going to lift you up & pull. You should be able to slip out of the last knot." He put his arms underneath & slowly stood up.

The boy's feet finally came out & he slipped down into Harry's arms. Harry let him go & bent down to find the wand. "Thanks," the boy muttered.

"What happened to you?" Harry asked, holding the black wand up.

The boy was pushing his robes in place. His black hair was all askew. He pushed long bangs out of his face, then took his wand back. "James Potter & Sirius Black happened."

Harry brushed dirt off his knees. "Those two are a bit ...weird. I've had a run in with them to, though not this bad. I'm Jason by the way. Jason Dursley." He stood up straight & looked at the boy.

"Severus," he half shrugged. "Severus Snape."

"Hmm," Harry half smiled. He walked past Snape & made sure his reflection didn't show up in any mirrors. It took all his will power not to break out into a grin or burst out laughing. He had just witlessly helped his second most hated teacher out of a bind...literally. "Could you excuse me for one moment?" Harry said in a lofty voice that was not his usual sound. He ducked into another stall, closed the door & then clapped both hands over his mouth so he wouldn't burst out laughing. That boy was Professor Snape! "Mhm, this can't be happening," he said to himself. He hated Snape! He never thought for a moment about Snape also being here at Hogwarts but as a student. He was now in Myrtle's bathroom with a Severus Snape the same age as him. "Ok," he whispered to himself. "I can do this." He cleared his throat & opened the door.

Severus was standing by the sinks, looking at himself in the mirror. He put his hand under the water from the tap & then pressed his damp fingers to a cut over his eye. He winced from the sting. Harry watched him for a while.

"You alright?" Harry finally asked.

Severus looked up at him as if he had forgotten Harry was there. He shrugged. "Fine as I'll ever be. I'm used to it."

"Used to it?"

"It isn't the first time they beat me up," Severus bent down to his bag lying under the sink. "Though this is mild compared to what they usually do."

"James & Sirius?"

Severus nodded & looked Harry over. "You're a lion. I suppose you listen to them tell stories of how they teach me their daily lesson."

"No," Harry shook his head. "I'm new actually. I just got here. A temp only."

Severus knelt down in front of his bag, glancing up at Harry. "That explains why I don't remember seeing you then. Well, you'll find out soon enough so I won't bore you." He turned his attention back to his bag.

Harry stared at him. This Severus seemed more like a timid quiet boy. Harry thought Severus had always been a bully, but here it seemed that he would like nothing more than to melt into the background where no one would notice or care. Harry sighed & moved towards him. "I doubt it. I don't really speak to those two. Really, I only seem to be talking to Remus & M—Lily at the moment."

"You know Lily?" Severus actually smiled a little for the first time. Harry had never seen that man—boy—smile before.

"Yeah, she's really nice," Harry smiled back, then mentally kicked himself. It's Severus freaking Snape. Stop that! "So is Remus."

"Be careful with that Lupin kid," Severus was suddenly as cold as Harry remembered him. "There is something seriously wrong with him."

Harry was about to wave off the Lycanthropy but then remembered, this was the boy, not the man. It's most likely Severus didn't know. Not yet. "Really? Was he the one who tied you up in here?"

"No, that was—"

"James & Sirius," Harry said. "Not Remus. Has Remus ever done something like this to you?" He was genuinely wanting to know.

Severus shook his head. "But he doesn't stop them either if he sees them sometimes." Harry was shocked by that answer & stood silent, reconsidering everything. Severus pushed his bag aside. "Those two threw my bag under the sinks here. My potion vial is shattered. James knew I would get a perfect score as I'm the second best brewer here. So he made sure it broke. Now it's gone."

"Is it the potion from class yesterday?" Harry asked. Severus merely nodded. "Here, take some of mine." Severus stared at him. Harry pulled out his vial of the potion as well as an empty one. He poured half of his into the other vial & handed that over. "Go on. Take it."

Severus stared at him. He slowly reached out & took the vial. "Thanks." He put the vial into his own bag. "No one helps me besides Lily. She's really good at potions. I learn a lot from her." Harry was nearly floored. So, every time he had sat in this guy's class, he was listening to renditions of his mother?! Severus stared at him for a moment. "Why?"

"Why what?" Harry asked quickly, still reeling.

"Why help me?" Severus went on. "Did Lily tell you to?"

"No," Harry shrugged. "I just walked in on you. I thought I was dodging Peeves really. Turns out you were the one making the noise." It hit him like a ton of bricks. His mother was friends with Severus Sna—HIS MOTHER! Friends! With Snape!

"Are you ok?" Severus asked. "You seem like you've been hit by lightening or something?"

Harry realised he had been gaping & closed his mouth. "I uh I just realised you've been hanging there for ages. You must be really light-headed right now."

"I'll get over it," said Severus. He shouldered his bag.

Harry let him walk past, then followed him to the door. They both stepped out into the corridor. Harry followed closely behind, glancing around for any signs of his father or godfather. Severus kept looking back at him, wondering why Harry was following.

"I'm watching out for James or Sirius," Harry looked up some stairs, teeth gritted. "We can't have them breaking your potion vial again. I don't have enough to spare you more." He yanked open a portrait leading to a hidden tunnel & stared down it for a while. He slammed it at last & turned, nearly knocking Severus over.

"What was that?" Severus asked, staring at the portrait.

"A path between two main halls," Harry snarled, now looking down to the next level for any signs. He was angry with his father for leaving someone like that for so long. Not even Professor Snape should go through that. He was angry at his godfather for not bothering to mention that on top of being a Prefect, Lily was also friends with Snape. He even had a small bone to pick with Lupin right now to. Lupin knew this was going on but did nothing? He was a Prefect!

"You seem upset," Severus pointed out.

"If I see those two boys," Harry muttered. "They will be sorry."

"You're new," Severus said. "You don't know. Just don't try to take those two on."

"Oh it is on! It is so so on!" Harry glanced behind them as they rounded a corner. "You have no idea how on it is!" He marched along, fist curled by his hips. How dare his father do this? His father was supposed to be a great Auror. A hero! Not some school bully.

Severus watched as Harry continued to scan around them while they made their way to the stairs leading to the dungeons. He seemed nearly bemused. He finally said, "You remind me a little of Lily."

Harry stopped scanning & looked Severus in the eye. Of all people, Professor Snape was the one who pointed out the attributes of Lily in her son, other than the eye thing. "Thank you," Harry smiled widely & went back to his vigil. He was like his mother. Not his father!

They reached the stairs to the dungeon without incident. Severus cast another confused look at this new guy before heading down the stairs. "Hey," Harry called out. "See you in class right?"

"Uh right," Severus wondered if Jason was setting him up. As he disappeared from view, he put his hand into his bag again & gripped the vial. Did that stranger really give him some of his homework potion? He had no time to test it, but it was all he had. Should he hand it in or if he did, would it simply do something weird that James & Sirius had planned & made Jason give it to him?

The final class was one hour of potions. Everyone had to do a written pop quiz & then hand in their vial they had made from the lesson before. It was once again Gryffindor & Slytherin sharing the class. Harry shared a table with Frank Longbottom this time, though Lily was right beside them with Alice Jay, Frank's girlfriend.

Harry made it a point to not look directly at James. He was still mad at him. He did keep an eye on him discreetly, hoping he wouldn't try to break the new vial Harry had given Severus. He need not have worried though for Lily screwed everything up.

As students lined up to bring their vials, Lily came upto Harry. "Sev told me what you did. Thanks for helping him out!"

"No problem," Harry shrugged.

"I hope those morons don't find out," Lily went on. "They'll give you hell for it."

"They can try," Harry snapped. The last thing he wanted to talk about was Dad right now.

Lily hesitated a moment, then came closer to him. "You're great, Jason." She leaned forward & kissed his cheek before flouncing off to Alice's side. Harry glanced to the floor. He had just received his first & possibly only kiss from his mother that he would remember. Therefore, he did not notice James who had seen the entire procedure.

"I'm going to murder him," James dropped his vial, smashing it to the floor. Huh karma eh? But he didn't care. He now understood why he hated Jason Dursley. Jason was moving in on HIS woman!

"Hey why is Snivelus giving Slughorn a vial?" Sirius stared in confusion.

"Lily just kissed Jason & you're worried about Snivelus?" James grumbled.

"She's your girl, not mine."

"I think it's time I reiterated that little fact!"


	3. Chapter 3

**(3) The Night Romp**

As five o'clock drew near, Harry headed towards Dumbledore's office while under Cloak. He had a feeling James was hunting him again & he didn't know what Dumbledore had wanted his Dad for but knew James would blame whatever trouble it was on him. He checked the Map regularly but James & Sirius didn't appear anywhere near him.

Harry took the Cloak off only once the stairs revolved nearly to the top. He entered, tucking both Cloak & Map away. Dumbledore pointed him to the armchair as he opened the door to a cabinet & picked up two vials. He came to his desk & gave both to Harry before sitting down himself.

"Those two will make your disguise last six months," Dumbledore began. He opened a drawer of his desk & pulled out an envelope. "Here are your school funds of thirty thousand Galleons as well as your Temp Hogsmeade form."

"Thank you sir," Harry put the envelope into his bag & then downed both potions. "When can I go to Hogsmeade?"

"Right now if you like," Dumbledore answered. "Curfew for fifth years is at 7 o'clock."

"Where I come from, it's at nine," Harry said.

"Is there war where you come from?"

"Not all out war," Harry said. "Not yet."

"That is why it's earlier for now," Dumbledore explained. "Hogsmeade will close at 7 o'clock so you have to be back here by then. You can still wander about inside the castle until 9 but you can no longer be outside until morning. Only the staff, any Aurors & Prefects as well as the Head Boy & Girl can go where they please without the limits of curfews."

"Alright," Harry nodded. "I should be back before then anyway. I won't get too many things since I don't plan on staying here. I'll write out what happened with Time over the weekend." He was reluctant to go back to Umbridge.

"Very well," Dumbledore agreed. "Bare in mind that you may be here for longer. Writing the details of what happened is one thing. Re-doing it is quite another."

"That's alright," Harry said, trying to hide the relief. "Besides, it isn't like I'm missing classes. I'm still at school. So long as I do the final exams from when I come from so I can keep my marks."

"We will have the marks of Jason Dursley on record as well," Dumbledore said. "So when the time comes," he smiled at the pun. "you can have them back." He stood up, taking the empty vials. "Now, I don't want to keep you from what little time you have for shopping. But do be quick about it."

"Yes sir," Harry left hurriedly & made his way through the castle & into the snow-covered grounds. Looking around, he didn't see James or Sirius anywhere, so he stepped onto the worn track leading to the village & ran as safely as possibly on the hard packed ground.

Harry was able to get new writing materials, regular robes for when he wasn't in class, extra winter coverings & a few other items. He stopped to look through a Quidditch magazine & wondered how these 'old' brooms compared to his Firebolt. If only he had been riding that thing when the accident occurred. James would have been so jealous! Harry envisioned knocking the prat off his broom while on his own Firebolt.

As it was getting close to seven, Harry grabbed a bag of sweets from Honeydukes before making his way back to the castle. He paused to look at the Shrieking Shack, thinking of Remus using it again in a few days.

Harry managed to slip into the castle just five minutes past seven. The castle was slowly barricading itself up & Harry felt like he was back in his third year. Bars slipped over gates, holding them shut. Large windows snapped shut while shutters fell over them, hiding them from the view of outside onlookers.

At long last, Harry found himself once more in front of the Fat Lady. Checking the Map, he could see all four Marauders & Lily were already inside. James & Sirius were in the small study room on the side so Harry hoped to go right past & into the guest dorms without James noticing him.

Hardly anyone looked up as he past, as they were all engrossed in homework or games like Exploding Snap. Harry went up the stairs to the boys dorms & was nearly on his old familiar bed when he remembered. He was a temp right now. He glanced around the dorm & noticed that the bed Remus was in would one day be his own. James was in Ron's & Sirius was in Neville's. Harry found Peter's bed where Seamus would one day sleep.

Not wanting to get caught by his own father, Harry soon left & went to the guest room. He was the only one there despite the room having twenty four beds. Harry picked one by the window & away from the door & began getting changed. Then he settled himself on the bed & pulled out some homework.

"Nice to see you finally decided to join us."

Harry dropped his work & shot to his feet. "What do—oh. Hi Remus."

Remus laughed at him. "Easy! Didn't mean to scare you."

"I wasn't scared," Harry laughed nervously.

Remus raised one brow. "Please I can smell fear a mile away."

"I guess," Harry gave up. "How's detention with Dad?"

Remus glared at him. "Delightful," he said in a voice that was anything but. Harry snickered as he began collecting his spilled homework. Remus came & sat on the bed next to him, watching Harry for a long time. "Papa is still mad at me for certain friends I have."

"Yeah well," Harry didn't want to talk of James right now. "Can you blame him? Those two are bloody idiots."

Remus was silent a moment. "Everyone has their moments," He finally said. "But I mean—I can't really say." Harry wondered if it had something to do with his Lycanthropy. "James & Sirius are both part of the Black family & that family is known for their hatred of people who aren't pure. Yet I go & befriend two of them."

"I'm a half blood," Harry said. "But I've heard of pureblood supremacy. One of my best friends from where I come from is muggleborn. She gets tormented a lot for it."

"Oh that's bad," Remus sighed. "I'm half to, though that's still bad to most of the Blacks. Papa doesn't believe me when I tell him Jim & Siri would never do anything like that."

"I just don't think very highly of them right now," Harry said. "They both come off as a bit ...arrogant."

"They're both starting to train to be Aurors this year," Remus said. "Sirius's family hate him all the more for it while Jim's family put more pressure on him since they are both Aurors to."

"That doesn't give them the right to beat people up or leave them dangling in the bathroom for hours," Harry said.

"I didn't say that," Remus defended. "But considering we're actually at war, both of them can be called away from school at any time. They are doing double lessons, some from Hogwarts & some from the Ministry itself, condensing a course that should be four years, into about two. This year is just the prep work. Year 6 & 7 will be the full courses but still, it's a lot of stress."

"What good is an Auror if he can't tell the difference between defending the Light or abusing his powers?"

Remus gaped at him. "I've never thought of it that way."

"I don't get it," Harry went on. "James really seems to hate me for some reason. I'm just a temporary lion cub. I don't know what I did to make him so mad."

"You're talking to Lily Evans," Remus smirked. "Jim's been in love with her since the Sorting."

"I'm not here to steal girls," Harry began.

"Oh really," Remus began in a defensive voice Harry knew all to well from the Shrieking Shack. "Then explain why she kissed you today? James saw it so you better watch out."

Harry rolled his eyes, mentally cursing James again. "She was simply thanking me for helping her out with something. So you're spying for him now are you? Think you're being a good friend, coming here to check me out?" Harry's respect points for Remus Lupin just went down by five.

"Jim will drive anyone he feels is a threat away from her," Remus explained.

"Yeah he's like a bloody stag in the rut!" Harry grumbled. Remus failed to hide his shock in time, but Harry ignored it. "That's what he reminds me of anyway."

Remus stood up quickly. "I'm sure we all go through that sooner or later when we fall in love." At that, he left rather hurriedly.

Harry closed the door & returned to his bed. "Argh! Stupid Dad! Get off my case!" He couldn't believe James had sent Remus to check him out. The arrogance! He was not going to date his own mother.

James doesn't know she's your mother.

"He's still being a right royal pain in the—what now?"

The door had opened again. A black dog came in, whined & sat on its tail, looking up at him in adoration. Harry felt the old familiar feeling of wanting to kill Sirius again like he had back in his third year. Sirius was here, pretending to be a stray dog in the hopes Harry would befriend & start talking to him & maybe spill his secrets. Harry decided he would kill his Dad to for sending Padfoot to him.

"I hate dogs," Harry got onto his bed & pulled the curtains shut. Padfoot whined. Harry stuck his hand out & made a rude sign then pulled the covers up & with a flick of his wand the lights went out. Padfoot whined again. "Alright! That does it!" Harry scrambled out of his bed & shot a flame back into the fire pit. He grabbed Padfoot roughly by one ear, ignoring the yelp & dragged him to the door. "I HATE DOGS! GO AWAY!" He yanked the door open, kicked Padfoot hard in the ribs which sent him tumbling over his back out the door. With a squeal, Padfoot hit the opposite wall. Quivering, he looked up in surprise but Harry slammed the door shut & locked it. Padfoot yelped again. Harry had been sure to kick him really hard to get the message across. No spying!

"What happened to you?" James stared as Sirius limped to the armchair by the fire, rubbing his ribs. On closer inspection, it seemed that Sirius was close to tears. His right ear was also torn & bleeding.

"No go," Sirius muttered, slowly sitting down. He yelped & clutched his ribs. "He really hates dogs." He explained the abuse he had just suffered.

"Sorry mate," James sighed. "Oh well. Thought we could try."

Sirius bunched over so that his head was nearly touching his knees. "Ohh I think he broke a rib. Bloody sod kicks like a freaking mule!"

"Do you want to go to the hospital wing?" James asked.

Still doubled over, Sirius took a moment to rub his ribs. "Mhm!" He nearly cried from the pain.

"Ok," James laid aside his homework. "Come on. We'll take it easy." He slowly helped Sirius up & then helped him to move towards the portrait hole. It would be a very long walk. When they finally did arrive, Sirius spent the whole night in a hospital bed while two of his ribs & his ear mended.

Due to Remus warning him, Harry spent most of the next few days dodging James as much as possible. He went around under Cloak as often as he could & used his Map to make sure that pretty much the entire castle of Hogwarts was between them. The only time he & James saw each other was either in class or at the Great Hall during mealtimes. Judging by the glares James shot at him any chance he got, Harry was wise to stay out of sight.

In the meantime, Harry managed to talk to Lily occasionally, but he would only approach her after checking the Map to make sure James, Sirius, Remus & Peter were far away. He ended up sharing more than one private lesson with Severus of all people whenever Lily found more interesting ways of making potions that would win all of them high marks in class.

It took a while, but Severus slowly opened up in front of Harry & though Harry tried hard to stop it, he & Severus were becoming friends. The three of them had made up their own cliché whenever Lily wasn't gossiping with her girlfriends. Harry's mind spun over & over at his situation: befriending Snape on one hand, while wishing death on his own father on the other & through it all, favoriting his mother more & more. She was nearly everything he had expected her to be, friends with Snape aside. At times though, Harry did catch Lily acting somewhat like Petunia whenever she was with the girls, but at least she wasn't completely ruined for him like his father was. How did that idiot get hooked up with this girl anyway? She was way beyond James's league. Way beyond.

Harry realized suddenly that this was probably why James would attack any male remotely interested in Lily. He knew he wasn't good enough for her. In fact, Harry was wondering if any guy would be good enough for her.

Harry also got to meet Frank Longbottom & his girlfriend Alice Jay. All he had known about them was that they were insane & in St. Mungo's hospital for the rest of their lives & how the entire Wizarding World was in an uproar about it. He soon understood why. They were among the nicest people Harry had ever met & both were quite popular throughout the school, even among some of Slytherin.

Both of them were also taking the classes that would get them into the doubled up course for being Aurors. Everything in Harry wanted him to scream out not to do it, but he knew he would just look weird. Harry watched Frank head up the boys' dormitory stairs late one cold night, hoisting his large platypus, Philip, that he had rescued as a baby from dingoes when on vacation in Australia as a kid, higher over his shoulder. Philip grunted as the pair disappeared. Somehow, some way, Harry promised himself to come up with a way to spare Frank & Alice.

"Are you still down here?"

Harry started & sat up straight, his book sliding to the floor. "Who's there?"

The dim fire flared to life & candles lit themselves up. James stood on the last stair. "Who do you think?"

"Oh hi," Harry sighed.

"Hi," James echoed in a voice that clearly meant 'get out of my face' instead.

"What do you want?" Harry groaned.

James glanced around, casting a lingering gaze at the portrait hole. "I need you to go away."

"Why? If this is about Lily—"

"What about her?" James snapped. "Stay away from her."

"Would you rel—"

"If I catch you near her again, you'll be sorry," James huffed.

"I can't be with her!"

"Got that one right."

"You don't understand," Harry sighed. "I simply can't be with her even if you didn't exist!"

"Whatever. Don't forget that. Anyway, I said you have to go away," James stepped off the last stair at last & pointed upwards. "So get."

"You can't tell me what to do," Harry shot at him. "You're not my father!" Yet, he finished in his brain.

"Get up those stairs or so help me!"

Harry scoffed & picked up his book again & settled back into his chair. "I'm staying right here."

"I need to go somewhere now."

"Well then go!" Harry pointed at the portrait. "I don't care. In fact the sooner you leave the better."

"It's after curfew so you'll just rat me out," James began. "I'm going to get you into your bed one way or another then I can just modify your memory. I have advanced training you know."

"Know what?" Harry glared. "You can piss off. Oh & if anyone needs to stay away from Lily Evans, it's you! You're an arse & she's a queen. She's way out of your league!"

"Well she sure as hell isn't in yours either!"

"At last, we can agree on something!"

"No we don't."

Harry closed his eyes. "Would you just go?"

"Would you just get to your bed?"

"MAKE ME!" Harry crossed his arms. Part of him appreciated the irony of pulling a tantrum for his father but most of him just wanted to kick James so hard between the legs that perhaps he would become sterile.

"I don't have time for this!" James huffed. "I have a friend who really needs me right now."

Harry lowered his arms. "Now that is something I can understand."

"Hardly," James rolled his eyes.

"I have a muggleborn friend from where I come from," Harry explained. "I've had to defend her honor on more than one occasion. I'm half blood myself to."

"I hate pureblood supremacy," James agreed. "I'm pure. Lily isn't but it doesn't matter to me."

Harry dared to send James a short smile. "Look, I've sneaked out more than once to help friends to. I may not like you but I wouldn't rat you out for that. Just go."

James & Harry stared each other down. James slowly but surely inched for the doorway. He almost reached it, then turned back to Harry. "Jason, if I hear one word of me going out tonight—anything at all—I will really make you miserable!" At that, he slipped on his version of the Death Cloak & went out at last.

Harry collapsed back into his chair. "You already make me miserable Dad."

He pulled out his Map & watched James Potter skitter through the castle. It took a while, but James soon ended up on the grounds outside. Suddenly, his dot moved faster than a human naturally could & Harry wondered if James wasn't on a broom. The dot stopped at the Whomping Willow for a moment, then began following the trail towards the shack. It was then Harry knew. He gasped. "REMUS!" He got to his feet & checked the calendar on the board. Sure enough, it was a full moon. James had used Prongs to move that fast. No wonder James wanted to leave or why he wanted it kept quiet.

James switched back to himself & flung the trap door open. He clamoured inside & saw Padfoot with Wormtail on his head. "Sorry I'm late. That essay took longer than I thought. Where is he?" He kicked the trap door closed & flung his cloak over the railing.

Padfoot started crying & yelping.

"What? OH!" James swore loudly as he ran forward & dived under the stairs the same moment Moony launched himself off the top stair, snarling viciously. "He's already finished changing?" James rolled back out as Moony landed & shifted to Prongs. Moony whirled around, snapping his jaws.

Prongs lowered his horns. Moony stopped within inches of the horns & sniffed. He was confused. He could have sworn there had been a human here to eat. Prongs bugled. Moony licked his chops & began chewing on an antler. Padfoot was still staring at Prongs, mouth agape. He shook his head vigorously, making Wormtail squeak indignantly & jump off. Prongs merely shrugged his shoulders, making Padfoot close his mouth with a snap & glare. Moony scooped the rat up in his jaws, then looked at Padfoot. The black dog had gone back to shaking his head, glaring at the stag. The tip of his tail tapped the floor in irritation. Moony whined & headed for the door. His stupid pack was slow tonight. He wanted out! Padfoot shot one more disgusted look at Prongs as he stood up, then helped Moony nudge the bolts open. A breath of night air filled the shack as the Marauders Pack tumbled out (Prongs having to try twisting his head a few ways to get his horns through the door) & took off into the forest.

Moony was ahead, going deeper into the forest. Padfoot cut across the path of Prongs & switched to Sirius. It took all of James's strength to stop & switch back before running Sirius down & managed to come to a halt with just a hair's breadth between them.

"What is wrong with you?" James demanded.

"ME?" Sirius glared. "What is wrong with you? Don't you know you nearly got killed?"

"But I didn't!" James huffed. "Can we just go?"

"This conversation is not over!" Sirius switched back to Padfoot & took off. Prongs stamped his left front hoof before following.

Far in the distance, Moony howled, wondering where half his pack was. Padfoot bounded into the clearing several minutes later, followed shortly by Prongs. Wormtail was perched on a rock nearby, washing his fur. Moony barked & Wormtail froze like a startled rabbit. Padfoot made a rumbling sound as if he was laughing. As Prongs strutted by, Padfoot bit his back heels. Prongs bellowed & turned large glowing eyes on him. Padfoot stuck his nose in the air & walked away to pounce on Moony.

The pack kept Moony occupied in the clearing until the wolf finally fell asleep. Wormtail curled up in between his withers while Prongs & Padfoot lay down on either side. It took a while to get Moony down to bed. It was nearly three in the morning & by then, a light snow was falling but the fur coats kept the animals warm.

It was Remus who shivered in the light of dawn as the rays of sun ripped him out of Moony once more. His yells of torment woke the others up & they stood silently to one side until Remus lay naked but human in the snow. James was the first to transform & he took off his coat & put it around Remus. Sirius handed over his coat as well while Peter gave his hat & gloves.

"I hate full moons in the winter time," Remus scowled.

"Well let's get you back to the shack," James put an arm around him. "We might have an early Christmas present for you."

Remus nodded & waited for Prongs to appear. He was about to clamour onto his back, when he pulled away with disgust. "Oh Prongs! You're wet!"

"It isn't my fault it snowed," James muttered. "Would you hurry up? We don't have our coats at the moment."

"At least you're all dressed still," Remus replied. "I'm still naked under here & Sirius is starting to pant."

James smacked Sirius over the head, then shifted to Prongs again. "I'm a wolf Padfoot," Remus gingerly mounted Prongs. "I mate for life. You don't. UGH! Soggy stag fur in places I didn't know I had!" He gave the stag's flanks a kick as if he were riding a horse while Sirius doubled over in laughter.

"Why are we friends with him?" Peter asked, trying hard not to laugh.

"I don't know," Sirius gasped.

"I heard that!" Remus yelled as Prongs moved into a faster gait.

They arrived back at the shack about half an hour later, with Padfoot carrying Wormtail on his head. Remus slipped off so James could get through the door without worrying about horns. He waddled in like a bandy legged duck & slowly climbed the stairs. Peter followed him up to help Remus dress & lie down until the soreness was gone (though Remus declared that he still had tufts of cold, wet stag fur in unmentionable places).

James made as if to follow but Sirius shoved him against the wall. "What do you think you were doing last night?"

"Would you give it a rest?" James pushed Sirius away. "I'm fine. He didn't hurt me."

"If he had—"

"HE DIDN'T!"

"If he had," Sirius insisted. "He would have gone mad with the taste of human blood & he would have had to have been put down! You knew it was dark enough! You should have waited outside!"

"Alright, fine. I'm sorry!" James tried to blow Sirius off. "Will you leave me alone now? I'm tired!"

Sirius glared at his back until James reached the first stair. "If you're ever late again, stay outside! We'll regroup when we're all out."

"I got it!" James stomped up the stairs, flipped himself into bed beside Remus & made sure his back was towards the door. Wormtail curled up on the headboard. Sirius came in last, still glaring & lay down on Remus's other side.

Harry was sitting on a bench by a fire in an open lobby on the first floor doing homework. He couldn't wait for the Christmas holidays to start at the end of the week. It would give him time to catch up & then hopefully enjoy some of the break. A shadow swooped over him & he looked up to see Severus watching him.

"Lily gave me some notes for you," Harry opened his bag & pulled out two sheets of parchment.

"Thanks," Severus took them. He managed a shy half-smile, then froze for a moment, looking past Harry. He suddenly turned to leave.

"Padfoot I hate you!"

"Wait," Harry put out a hand to catch Severus. "Sit down here with me. Don't look at them."

"You're just inviting trouble," Severus pulled away. He walked quickly around the corner & out of sight.

"Ohh Severus!" Harry hissed under breath, trying to call him back. But it was no use. He was gone.

A moment later, all four Marauders came into view, with Remus chewing on an enormous chocolate bar. Harry did a double take. There was something wrong with his father. Well there were a lot of things wrong with James, but this one thing seemed to be most prominent at the moment. James was limping as if both feet were hurt.

"I can barely walk!" James glared at Sirius. "Don't you ever bite my heels again!"

"No less than what you deserved," Sirius defended.

James marched past, wincing with each step. Harry kept his face behind a book, grinning. James looked miserable as he hobbled along & for some reason, Harry had a sick twisted sense of joy at his father's pain.

Remus was the last one to pass him & Harry could see that he was in even more pain but he hid it well & kept quiet. Harry watched him until he disappeared through a door on the other side. Harry put his books away & got up. No matter what he did here, Remus would never get the help he needed. Even back in Harry's own time, Remus was still shunned & still suffered the wrath of the moon & worse, he had no pack with him until Sirius returned & even then, the pair barely had time with each other. But no cure had ever been made. The Wolfbane potion was not a cure & it didn't stop the pain.


	4. Chapter 4

**(4) The Hogsmeade Fiasco**

Harry managed to avoid any major skirmishes with James for the rest of the week; though, the same could not be said for Severus. Harry had to rescue his future Potions Master at least four more times before the first day of holidays. He was sure not to let James know who rescued Severus or he'd be back to fighting James again.

As Christmas drew near, it dawned on Harry that this was probably going to be the only Christmas he'd get with his parents that he would remember. He became all the more desperate to stay on his father's good side in the hopes that they'd share some part of Christmas together.

The Christmas Hogsmeade trip was soon upon them & James once more pathetically asked for Lily to go with him. He ended up crashing into the opposite wall of the common room.

"I'm so sick of your asking Potter!" Lily shrieked at him. "I'm not going!"

James slowly picked himself up. Harry hid behind a book again, stealing glances at the pair. "You don't have to be so mean about it."

"Wrong thing to say Dad," Harry muttered to himself through gritted teeth.

James promptly screamed & clasped both hands over his arse. "Blimey woman!" He staggered away to the portrait hole & left.

Harry lowered his book just in time to see Lily disappear up the girls' stairs. He petted Philip who was lying beside him. Philip shoved his duckbill into Harry's palm just as Frank & Alice soon appeared, all dressed up to go outside. Frank put the platypus into the tank, then took Alice's hand & left.

Harry stretched & was just starting to contemplate whether or not he should go when someone tapped his shoulder. Harry looked around. "MU—WOW!" He narrowly switched to wow in one breath. "Wh—what are you doing?"

Lily stood beside his chair, dressed in a dark red dress with a plunging V-line. A simple heart shaped amethyst hung on a delicate gold chain, directing the eyes downward. Lily wore black boots that went up past the hem of her dress, possibly to her knees. She had a black fur cap on & her leather gloves were also fur-lined. She carried her dark thick coat over one arm that seemed either dark green or blue, nearly black but with a hint of color in it when it shimmered in the light.

"Hi Jason. Are you planning to go to Hogsmeade?" Lily asked.

"I was thinking about it," Harry forced his eyes away from his mother's breasts. You sucked them for one ye—MERLIN'S BEARD SHUT UP! No wonder James wanted this woman though ...& Harry's eyes again started to stray downwards. He looked pointedly out the window. "Not too sure about the weather though."

"Oh come now," Lily purred. "What's a little flurry?"

I will not be my own father! Harry chanced a glance at Lily. "You said you weren't going."

"Not with that moron no," Lily huffed. "But you're ok."

"Thanks," Harry said glumly. "James will KILL me though."

Lily stared at him. "I don't care what that idiot boy thinks he will do. You're safe with me. He doesn't have a chance. Shall we go then? Hurry up, I want to catch up to Frank & Alice. That way we'll just be a group going out & James can go hump his broomstick."

Harry gulped. He knew he was dead. On the other hand, he wanted to go on a shopping trip with his mother. He had never done that before. "Ok," he finally gave in.

Lily slipped on her coat while Harry went to get dressed more warmly. She grabbed his hand the moment they were out of the portrait & impatiently tugged him down the hall. "There they are," Lily tugged more to make Harry move faster. "Alice, wait up!"

They had just reached the large doors at the Grand Entrance. Frank had started pulling them open as Alice paused to let Lily & Harry catch up.

"Hi Lily, Jason," Alice nodded to him. "So you're coming after all?" She asked Lily.

"'Course I am," Lily said. "I won't let that idiot ruin my day!"

"He's way ahead with his gang," Alice said as they stepped out into a pale grey day with a few flakes falling on them.

"Good," Lily sighed. "I thought I'd ask Jason along since he's new. We can show him around town."

"Sure," Alice flashed Harry a smile.

Harry smiled back as he followed the other three. He of course, knew the town of Hogsmeade like the back of his hand, but to have his mother show it to him would be interesting. Harry had to learn everything the hard way, growing up muggle & had no magic parents to show him anything.

The four of them went through the shops & cafés with Harry glancing around nervously for James. While Lily was chatting with Alice in one shop, Harry slipped away & wandered the aisles by himself. What exactly, would make a good gift for his mother? He was ashamed to admit he didn't know really what to get her. His eyes landed on a small mahogany chest. Inside were five different quills, including a peacock feather, each laying in place in each their own trays. In the lid, were rows of various colored ink bottles. As Lily did a lot of writing for her own notes as well as for his & Severus's, Harry decided to get that. He had it wrapped up in brown paper & left it at the desk as it would be delivered by owl at the end of the day.

In the next shop—Harry could not believe what he just did—he bought a small box of a few various potion vials & ingredients. This was for Severus. Still in a daze, he wandered aimlessly into Honeydukes. Here it was easier. Just get a large box of chocolates & label it for the Marauders. That way, in a sense he was giving his father something for Christmas at last, while at the same time it got rid of any awkward moments of getting something for Peter. They could just share the box. He left it at the desk after ensuring an owl for it, then decided to get something for himself.

There were some different sweets from when he was here. Snowball kisses that literally shot out flakes & tasted like chocolate & cream. Firedazzles that looked like flames of fire but they were for eating. They caused smoke from your mouth & various types of sparks from your ears like fireworks. Chocolate cream balls that changed flavour every few moments. They were apparently Lily's favorite, so Harry snatched a few of those to put into the little chest when he got around to wrapping it.

Some of the sweets were more or less the same & Harry was just starting to eat his way through his second liquorish wand when he heard boisterous laughter as the door banged open. James & Sirius bustled in followed by Peter. A moment later, Remus entered in his more sensible fashion & picked up the nearest chocolate bar. James had grabbed a bag of pop candies (they fizzed & popped in your mouth) & had already begun eating them. Harry was in the process of wondering if they were stealing (surely not Remus!) when he saw James nod to Sirius who took off to the desk, pulling coins out of his pocket. Harry forced himself to relax.

James pulled Peter along beside him as he came to a round table in the center that was made up of pots, each filled with a different color thick as greek yogurt. They were slushies that never melted & didn't make you cold. James soon filled a cup with vanilla & black cherry. He turned & leaned against the edge of the table. His eyes caught sight of Harry.

"Jason," James stood straight. "I see you made it."

"Yeah," Harry nodded. "I have my temp form that Dumbledore gave me."

"Most people need forms signed by parents," said James. "Of course I never did. When my third year started, turning in the form was just a polite formality for me; Sirius to." Harry realized that James was boasting & was reminded of Draco Malfoy. However, he was grateful for any information he could get so he let James continue. "My parents brought us both here many times since we knew how to walk. They're both Aurors you know. Then when we started school, either Mum or Dad would come to bring us to Hogsmeade themselves."

"Must be neat to have parents has Aurors," Harry said. "But they're probably a lot more strict."

James actually laughed. "I could probably get away with murder in my own house if I wanted to. Nah, my parents are more like a couple of kids, always into pranks & stuff. Probably where I got it from." Harry could only stare. After having a drink of his slushie James added, "Like the town? Or have you been here before?"

"There is something similar from where I came from."

"Where did you come from?" James asked.

Harry sighed & glanced at the floor. "It ...it doesn't matter now. Voldemort destroyed everything."

James dropped his cup to the floor, staring at him in horror & for the first time, Harry caught a glimpse of the father he thought he had. "Wow," James gasped. "I'm an idiot! I'm sorry, I didn't know that."

"It's ok," Harry shrugged.

"I'm training to be an Auror," James said. "So is Sirius. There is still time to sign up. Right up to the Easter break. You ever think of joining?"

"Yes actually," Harry said. "Both my parents were Aurors. Voldemort killed them on the same night."

"That's horrible!" James came near to him. "The more Aurors we have the better."

"I wasn't able to get back to it since I've been stuck in limbo," Harry admitted.

"Oh is that why you're here right now?" James asked.

"There are other factors involved," Harry said vaguely. "But mostly yes."

"Well just talk to McGonagall about it," James said. "She can fix your lessons."

"I could do that after the Christmas holidays."

"Good," James sighed, reached over & picked an ever-changing flavour lollipop from the shelf. "There may be some hope for you yet."

"Thanks," Harry rolled his eyes.

James handed the lollipop over. "It's on me ...or Sirius actually. It's his turn to pay."

Harry slowly took it, not believing it was happening. His father was finally giving him a gift, however small it was. "Thanks." Harry said again, but meaning it this time.

"No problem," James shrugged, then glared. "Don't go getting any ideas. I still don't like you much. Not until I'm sure you mean what you say about Lily."

"I can't date her," Harry huffed.

"Too right you are," James flicked up his eyebrows. "You'll have no idea what you're getting into if you try."

It was with extreme effort that Harry didn't scoff. He knew exactly what was going on in his father's little wolf pack. Instead, Harry decided he'd better tell him. He hated telling on his own mother, but he had his own neck to save too. "By the way, Lily is here with Alice."

"Oh she is, is she?" James scowled. "I had a feeling she was lying."

"Well no ... no offense but," Harry sighed, closing his words carefully. "Perhaps you need to show her you like her."

"Oh she knows," James smiled. "You see women—real women, not the whores Sirius sleeps with—they play hard to get at. I'll soon wear her down. It's just a matter of time."

Harry bit his tongue to keep from saying that wasn't the reason why she hated James Potter. "Well good luck."

"You'll see," James smiled quickly before walking away. He paused & glanced back over his shoulder. "But you stay away from her, or you'll be sorry."

"I got it," Harry complained. "She's just a study partner. Nothing more." James just scoffed & marched away. Harry pocketed the lollipop after checking on Sirius who was still at the desk. Sirius was watching the gang, taking into account everything they took so he could pay for it. He nodded at Harry, indicating he got the lollipop, then checked on Remus. Harry turned away & mocked under breath, "'But you stay away from her, or you'll be sorry.' Merlin, why did you curse me with an arrogant son of a troll for a father?" Harry shot a glare at his father's back. Glancing around, he found himself in a corner & no one was watching him. Harry snatched up a small chocolate bar & threw it at James, then turned away pretending to be interested in something that looked like cotton candy.

"OW!" James rubbed the back of his neck. He glanced down & picked up the chocolate bar. "Ok Moony. I get it. You want it. All you had to do was ask instead of throwing it." Remus sent him a puzzled look, but his mouth was too stuffed with chocolate to answer. Harry suppressed a major urge to burst out laughing as he wandered down the rows of various drinks, including something similar to muggle soda pop (it will never go flat) & Butterbeer. At the other end of the aisle, he noticed James had taken one of the blueberry cream soda cans & headed to a table where Remus was. Harry suddenly had an idea. An awful brilliant, Marauder-like idea. He took one can of the soda pop of the same flavour. He had to time himself or else he'd be caught.

He waited for Sirius to turn back to counting money for a moment while Peter was crouched down looking at something on the lower shelf. James had his back to Harry, engrossing Remus in conversation. Harry walked by, switching the sodas, then ducked behind a large stand filled with jumping jelly beans, chocolate frogs & many other candies.

"So I was thinking," James was going on. "We should try to go north next time. I don't think the pack's been there before."

"So long as it's away from towns," Remus pointed out.

"You worry too much," James picked up his can & opened it. The problem was, it was the can that Harry had swapped around …after he had given it a good shake. "So we SH—AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHRRGGGGG!" At that precise moment, Lily walked in. She stopped & stared.

Harry crouched down to the floor in pain from trying not to burst out laughing. Remus clapped both hands over his mouth to hide his little fangs since he, unlike Harry, was screaming with laughter. Even Lily looked bemused. Peter stared in confused & Sirius was literally lying on the floor, sobbing.

Lily finally collected her wits & sauntered on by. "You're a right ugly mess, Potter."

"Whoever said that had better shut up!" James had been sprayed mostly in the face & he couldn't see. "SIRIUS! YOU IDIOT!"

"It wasn't me! I'm over here!" Sirius was still lying in front of the desk.

Alice & Frank came in a moment later & took one look at James. Both shared a look before they turned away grinning. 

James pulled his dirty glasses off. He saw Lily standing by the shelves near him. "I knew you were lying to me," He began, as he started cleaning away the sticky drink with his wand. "I had a feeling you'd show up."

"I came to see you in all your glory," Lily laughed, watching James scrub the stuff from his fur cap he had been wearing. It was now soaked & sticky.

"Yeah?" James huffed. "Like what you see?" 

"It was rather amusing."

"Hysterical," James groused. The last thing he wanted was Lily to see him when he wasn't at his best. He tried to glare at her but the soda was all over his bangs & dripping into his eyes & onto his nose. He started cleaning that up. He finally got rid of the mess, tucked his cap under one arm & passed one hand through his hair, making sure his points were hidden. Lily & Alice were bent over a tray of cream filled sweets. James stood straight with as much dignity as he had left, put his cleaned glasses back on & headed towards her. "Well you're here now," He said the moment he had pushed himself between the girls. "Whatever you want, I'll get it for you."

"I want you to get out of my way," was Lily's reply. Harry slapped his forehead with his palm & shook his head, realising now why he was so bad at picking up girls. His father was horrible!

"You know, if you'd quit being mean to me," James went on. "You'd notice I'm not such a bad guy."

"But still a bad guy none the less," Lily said in a bored voice. "Not my type. Sorry." She shoved past him. "Hi Ray." Remus could only wave as he was still fighting to put his face straight. Harry rubbed his ribs as Sirius finally picked himself off the floor.

Lily marched up to the desk, shoved Sirius aside as if he were a bag of candy & took the jar of liquorish wands. She pulled four out & gave one to Frank & Alice. She kept two for herself & Harry wondered if perhaps that other one wasn't for him. Just in case, he decided to leave before Lily noticed. There was no way he'd accept a gift from her in front of James.

Harry hurried up the street & ended up at the little Quidditch Shop. He slipped inside & examined the many brooms on display but not one came even close to his Firebolt. He noticed that even the Quidditch gear was different, more bulky with pads. Harry saw a few different styles of bats, some longer, others slimmer. Lastly, he looked over the balls. These haven't changed too much. He turned the corner into the next aisle & let out a yelp.

Remus was standing there, watching him with unblinking eyes. "I saw what you did."

Confused, Harry checked the racks of balls but they were still in place. "What?"

"With Jim's drink," Remus explained.

Harry glared defiantly at the wolf. "So?"

"So nothing," Remus's lips twitched. "Damn funniest thing I've seen in a while." At that, he shoved past & left the store, snickering.

"Crazy mutt," Harry rubbed his forehead before looking at the next shelf. Harry was just inspecting a row of Snitches when he heard someone call him.

"Jason!" Lily came up to him with Alice close behind. "We were looking for you."

"Sorry," Harry stepped back from the balls. "I got distracted."

"Do you play Quidditch?"

Harry almost answered not anymore, then a delightful thought entered his head. He could get the ban removed! "Yeah I'm a Seeker actually. I don't suppose there is any room on the Gryffindor team though, is there?"

"I don't think so," answered Lily. "But even if there was, I wouldn't recommend it."

"Why?"

"James & Sirius are both on that team as Chasers," Lily said.

"They're both Chasers?" Harry echoed. "Hmm I was always under the impression that James was a Seeker to."

"No he's a Chaser," Lily shook her head.

"They fly quite well," said Alice. "Pay no attention to Lily. She just doesn't like James & Sirius hates her."

"Siri—hates—why?" Harry demanded.

"Oh Sirius & I go way back," Lily flipped her red braid back over her shoulder. "Since we were on the train coming here for our first year. We get along about as much as James & Sev do."

Harry deducted twenty respect points for Sirius. "What an idiot," He muttered.

"They both are," Lily muttered, then as predicted, she gave Harry the spare liquorish wand before going on. "Anyway, we're going to get something to eat. Want to come along? We're going to Madam Dina's café for hot chocolate & muffins."

"Sure," Harry said. "I'll be along in a few minutes." He cast a quick glance at the Snitches.

Lily rolled her eyes & laughed. "Men & their balls." Harry's jaw landed on the floor. Lily & Alice both burst out laughing as they left. Frank shrugged helplessly as Alice pulled him along.

"Mother!" Harry moaned when the door had banged shut behind the other three. "UGH!" He pressed both palms over his eyes. "I swear I'll never look at another Quidditch ball the same way again!" Maybe it was good he was banned after all.

He took a few minutes to look around, partly because he didn't want James to see him tagging along close to Lily & partly because he had one more gift to select. When at last he had picked an item & left it to be owled later, he hurried to catch up to the others. He ended up right behind all four Marauders. Harry kept his distance but this soon proved impossible.

With a startled scream, Remus slipped on a patch of ice under the snow & landed flat on his back, staring at the sky. His package of chocolates went skittering across the road. Sirius flipped right over him as Peter just managed to stop before adding himself to the pile. Harry walked right into his back.

"Wow!" James exclaimed as he was the only one not affected since he had been slightly ahead. He came back & smirked down at Remus while Sirius picked himself up. "Did you have a nice trip? See you next fall."

Remus muttered a French swear as James burst out laughing, offering his hand. Harry knew at once it was a mistake but James was too busy laughing to notice. Remus pretended to accept the help, only to use his wolfish strength to yank James down. With a pained groan, James bit the snow face first, forcing his glasses sideways.

Remus neatly stood up & brushed himself off. "Oh how the mighty are fallen," he teased as Peter came up to him, returning the package of chocolates. "Thanks Pete. Shall we go?" The pair walked away, leaving James in the snow bank.

James shook his head & looked up right at Harry. "That stupid git fell on purpose ...didn't he?"

Harry slowly nodded, failing to hide a smile. "You've been with him five years. You should know him better than me."

With Sirius's help, James managed to stand without slipping. "Yes I have," James agreed, but then added. "Hmm & uh no I don't. That guy is something else!" He wiped snow from one side of his glasses. "We're just heading up to the café. She makes good hot chocolates using Butterbeer."

Harry mentally groaned. Now he was stuck with the pair of them again. Lily will love this. "I was just on my way there."

"It's a good thing," James said airily but he narrowed his eyes at Harry. "It'll warm you up fast in this weather." He took Sirius by the hand & together, the two of them led the way.

Harry waited a bit before following. Stalking. His father was stalking Lily! He knew where Lily was going & the fact that Harry was going to the same place had made him suspicious. Harry ducked into a bookstore instead as the Black cousins went on ahead & didn't notice him.

Harry avoided both his parents for the rest of the trip. He managed to slip into Madam Rosmerta's shop to get a warming Butterbeer. She looked so much younger now, barely in her mid twenties. When he came out, he noticed the crowds of students starting to make their way out of town & back to school.

Sipping the drink, Harry meandered towards the Shrieking Shack & after a quick glance around, he slipped inside to use the underground trail back to the castle. Harry stopped short inside, staring at the place. There was something different about it & it took a while for him to figure it out.

The bloodstains were fresher & a lot more seemed to be on the walls & floor. Harry could even see some paw & deer prints on the stairs. It suddenly hit him that Remus would smell his scent next time he entered. Harry groaned. Why didn't he think of that? He backed out, leaving a soft trail of perfumed magic where he stood in the hopes that it would confuse his mark. Trying not to touch anything, Harry elbowed the door open & stepped back outside. He locked the door behind him & hurried back to the street.

"I've got to stop using the passages," Harry scolded himself. It was hard not to since the hidden trails were an engrained habit in his brain. But with a werewolf sniffing around, it was just too risky.

"There you are," Lily called out to him just as he reached the gates. "We thought we'd lost you."

Harry cast a furtive glance around but James was no where in sight. "Sorry," he shrugged. "I looked at Quidditch supplies for ages."

"Figured as much," Lily laughed at him as they made their way across the grounds. She turned to Frank & Alice beside her. "So do you think Philip will like what you got him?"

"He'd better," Frank said. Noticing Harry, he added, "The platypus is probably the most high maintenance pet one could get. You know how cats can be? Well, the platypus is worse. Think they're royalty or something." He held up what looked like a silver ball. "He likes pushing stuff around in his tank but it makes a lot of noise. This apparently has a silencing spell on it. He can bang all he wants now."

Frank took Harry along as they entered the castle & began describing Philip to him while Alice & Lily followed behind. "It's not going to work," Alice said. "I think Philip likes the noise so a silent toy will anger him."

"Just get Frank to put the booties on first," Lily said, opening the door to the Great Hall. "We don't want anyone to get stung." 

"We'll have to wait & see," said Alice as they sat down with the others. "Right now, I'm hungry."


	5. Chapter 5

**(5) The Trouble With Christmas**

The last few days of worked passed slowly but Harry found them easier here than in his own time with Umbridge ruining everything. He hoped Dumbledore would not figure out how to recreate the time shift until after Christmas as it would be the only one he would have with his parents. He had turned in his report after the Hogsmeade trip, hoping that it would take a very long time before Dumbledore had everything ready.

When the holidays finally arrived, Harry was glad that the Marauders had stayed at school as well as Lily. Nearly everyone else had gone home so Harry was keen to use this time to observe his parents & maybe stay on James's good side. Philip was left in Peter's care, much to Harry's annoyance. He liked the platypus just fine, but unfortunately, so did Lily, which meant hours spent with the third most hated person in Harry's life under Voldemort & Severus; although, Severus was fast losing his position as a hated man.

Harry stretched out in an armchair in the corner, pretending to do homework he had already finished a few days ago. Lily & Peter were currently huddled together on the floor, playing with Philip. In all this time, Harry had managed to avoid Peter & hadn't said more than a 'hi' or 'excuse me' if they met in doorways. James came to pet Philip & for a moment, Harry had both his parents & their murderer in sight at the same time. The quill in his hand snapped.

"Jason?"

Harry nearly jumped out of his chair, looking around. "You scared me, Remus!"

Remus smiled softly as he stepped closer. "Are you alright? You look ready to kill someone."

"Fine," Harry muttered. "Just ...fine."

Remus looked down at the broken pieces of the quill on the floor. "Ok." He began to walk away. "But even I don't understand doing homework already finished."

"Thinking about my parents is all," Harry said, rolling up his parchments ... again.

Remus returned & sat in the chair across the table from Harry. "They're both dead, aren't they?" Harry nodded. "I understand. The season must be hard for you without them."

It was with great effort that Harry didn't laugh. The exact opposite was true for once. "The thing is, the one who murdered them is still walking free & I have to see him sometimes. But no one believes me when I point him out."

"Jim believes you," Remus said. Harry stared at him. "Jim told us Voldemort killed your parents. We all believe it. Many families are destroyed by him daily."

"Well Voldemort yes," Harry said. "But I mean the person who betrayed them to him. Only a few know who he is but no one else cares. In fact, everyone else thinks it's my godfather but he didn't do anything."

Remus raised his brow. "That's twisted."

"Yeah," Harry sighed. "It's quite a mess. What would you do, if your family was killed by one person's betrayal but everything got blamed on an innocent bystander?"

Remus took a moment in answering. "Well ... I'd be very mad. I might try to go after them myself."

"I tried that more than once," said Harry. "Didn't work & it got my godfather into even more trouble."

"Is that why you're not with him now?" Remus asked. "He's in hiding or something?"

Harry nodded. "He thinks I'm safe with Dumbledore though, so that's why I'm here." Sort of.

"You are," Remus said. "If there's one thing Voldemort fears, it's Dumbledore."

"No Philip!" Lily suddenly shrieked. "Come back here!"

Harry & Remus both watched in bemusement as the platypus made off with Lily's bracelet hanging out of his bill. He scurried under the sofa. Peter dived onto the floor & put a hand under to grab him. "GOT HIM!" Peter shouted triumphantly a moment later as he stood up holding a dangling Philip by his tail. Peter put him on the seat of the couch.

"Give it back!" Lily grabbed hold of the bracelet & pulled. They had a tussle but Lily won in the end. She put it back on as Peter got a deck of Exploding Snap.

"What's with all the yelling?" Sirius demanded as he stepped off the stairs to the dorms & entered the common room.

"Philip stole my bracelet!" Lily accused.

"I'm sure you have a hundred more, Evans," Sirius snapped as he went to the couch & sat down. _**"YEEEAAAAOOOUUUCH!"**_ He shot to his feet, clasped both hands onto his behind  & fell over screaming.

"Oh no!" Remus gasped. "I think he just got stung!"

"OH MERLIN KILL ME!" Sirius sobbed, rolling back & forth on the floor, both hands still clutching his behind. "OH GOD IT HURTS!"

Remus & Harry dashed to Sirius & tried to stop him from moving even more. Peter reached for Philip but recoiled instantly. "His booties are off!"

"Sirius!" James dropped to his knees beside Harry. "Sirius roll over on your tummy!"

"I CAN'T!" Sirius continued to howl.

"Oh just do it already!" James pushed Sirius over with Harry's help. "Oh." Was all James could say. There were two dark red spots on either side of Sirius's behind & the spots were getting bigger. "I think he got you with both spurs Paddy."

James put a hand on the belt & pulled it off, then worked the waistline down. Harry rolled his eyes forward for a moment, not believing what he was seeing. He noticed that Remus was trying not to smile. Sirius had been stung, twice in one shot, in the arse, by a freaking platypus! Harry met Remus's eyes & both turned away, biting their lips. James pulled Sirius's pants down, exposing his arse to the air. Harry put one hand on his forehead, trying to look without looking. There were two angry red welts that were bleeding & swelling before their eyes as the venom continued to spread.

"What do we do now?" Peter yelped, passing one hand through his hair.

"Go get Madam Pomfrey," Harry tried not to snap.

"No point," James said.

"What?"

"No point," James repeated. "There's no cure for platypus stings. Muggles tried morphine but it makes the pain worse. No magic can help either. She already warned us about this. It's why Kettleburn made booties for Philip so he couldn't hurt anyone."

"What do you mean no cure?!" Sirius bellowed through tears of agony.

"Sirius we already know this," James sighed, exasperated. "I don't know what we're going to do." He stood up. "Merry bloody Christmas." Sirius swore loudly at James. "Hey, there's a lady present!" James pointed at Lily.

Sirius stopped crying for a moment. "YOU UNCOVERD MY ARSE IN FRONT OF HER?!" Harry clapped both hands on his eyes & turned away, groaning.

"Well now that I've seen it," Lily began. "I'm glad I don't like you. Not very impressive."

"But it's big," Remus said. "I thought girls liked things big."

"It's getting bigger to," James added. It was true. The venom was causing the entire thing to puff right up. James reached down & gave it a poke.

"DON'T TOUCH IT!" Sirius screamed. He rolled onto his side & Lily had a good view of his front assets but Sirius didn't care as he pitifully grappled at the edge of the sofa & pulled himself up to a position that was half lying bent over the arm & half standing. His pants were down by his ankles now & everyone could see the puncture holes & venom travelling under his skin ... not to mention his more personal attributes. Sirius rubbed his eyes, still crying. Philip lay curled up on the couch, tail under bill, looking innocent but he had both eyes fixated on Sirius as if to say 'that'll teach you to put your fat ugly butt on my face!' Sirius gasped & then tried to make a lunge for Philip. He yelled & arched his back with pain before collapsing forward over the arm of the sofa.

"Right," James began. "Peter get underneath & find those booties. Evans dear, can you tell Pomfrey & Kettleburn what happened? Maybe they can come up with something for this."

"Why me?" Lily snarled. Harry noticed her roll her eyes at the word dear.

"You're the only girl here & Sirius is uncomfortable."

"Philip's the one who made him uncomfortable, not me," Lily huffed.

"Just go away!" Sirius shot at her through gritted teeth.

Lily scoffed. "Karma eh?" She stomped passed with her nose in the air.

"Whatever bitch!" Sirius groaned.

"HEY!" Harry yelled. He swung his foot, kicking Sirius on the rear, making him squeal.

"Jason!" James exclaimed. "Stay out of it. Sirius? Be nice."

"He just called her a—"

"I heard him," James turned to Harry. "Don't bother, Jason. Sirius & Evans have been at each other's throats since day one. I will deal with Sirius later."

"He shouldn't have said that!"

"I agree, but it isn't the first time & won't be the la—JASON!"

Harry had kicked Sirius's arse again. "You treat a lady with respect!"

"I'd rather be kissed by a Dementor!" Sirius shot at him through gritted teeth.

"That can be arranged!" Harry snarled, fully meaning it.

"Would someone get that bloody platypus off the couch please?" Sirius snapped.

"I only found one bootie," Peter held up a blue boot for Philip.

"There's another way," James pulled out his wand. "Stupefy!" Philip crumpled into a heap. Peter reached for him. "Careful! Don't touch the back legs." Peter grabbed the tip of the tail & hoisted Philip away. He put the platypus into the tank by the fire as Sirius slithered like a snake onto the couch until he was lying face down, his exposed arse still up in the air with the venom filled welts for all to see.

"Oy vey!" James rubbed his temples with both hands.

Peter sat down at Sirius's head while James took the other side of the couch. As there was nothing anyone could do until Pomfrey or Kettleburn could figure things out, Harry turned on his heel & entered the guest rooms to sit on his bed. Why did Sirius hate Lily so much? Harry stared at the floor, wondering what went on between them. He heard someone come in & looked up to see Remus who took the bed in front of him. They stared at each other. Remus suddenly lay back with a loud 'thwump' & burst out laughing. Harry couldn't help but join in.

"Oh man!" Remus gasped. "I know he's suffering but ...but the situation!" He laughed harder. "Of all places to get poked by those spurs to! He won't be able to sit for at least a month if not more."

"How long does the stinging last?"

"It depends how much he got," Remus finally sat up straight. "He got hit with both spurs so I think a long time. It can last anywhere from four weeks to ...to six months."

Harry secretly hoped it lasted six months. As Remus settled, Harry asked, "What happened with Sirius & Lily? They hate each other."

"Nothing really," Remus answered. "They literally ran into each other on the train before our first year. Sirius was running with James away from someone & bowled her right over. Instant love ever since."

"A bit like James & Severus I guess," said Harry.

"Yeah pretty much," Remus agreed. "You can't please everyone, Jason. Someone somewhere will always hate you."

Harry nodded mutely. Though he liked being here better than in his own time, he was fast losing respect points for both his father & godfather. He was beginning to wonder if he should try to leave sooner than later before disliking them both completely.

"Hey," Lily opened the door & leaned against the frame. "Pomfrey's taking him to the hospital wing right now."

"Is there anything that can be done for him?" Remus asked.

Lily shrugged. "Not much. She put a charm on his ...uh well...to hide the swelling & gave him a potion to help with the pain but it doesn't work to well for this stuff." She pushed some red hair out of her face before going on. "She's also taken Philip to study his spurs & venom some more."

"Well here's hoping," Remus sighed.

"Jason, I left some Charms notes by your bag," Lily went on. "You can share them with Remus. I'm heading for bed."

"Thanks Lily," Remus & Harry said at the same time. She closed the door & Remus stared unseeing at it.

"You ok Sir?" Harry mentally kicked himself but fortunately, Remus was preoccupied.

"Yeah," Remus said softly. His eyes wandered to the calendar on the wall. He put a hand on it, near the place of the full moon. "I hope she can fix Sirius as soon as possible." He let his hand fall away dejectedly. Harry knew he was worrying about being one pack-mate short on the next full moon. "Anyway," Remus turned back to him with an over-cheery air. "I'll get a copy of those notes off you & head off to bed. You'll want to go early since Jim starts making a racket around four in the morning on Christmas, usually with Sirius to, so you're lucky."

Harry was instantly reminded of Ron & smiled. "Sure thing Remus."

Remus wasn't kidding. Harry was awakened out of a sound sleep by a loud shriek, thudding & his Dad's voice hollering up the stairs. "Wormtail! Hurry up! We have to bring Padfoot's stuff to the hospital wing."

Harry yawned & stretched, then flipped his covers away. He made his way into the common room, stopping short to stare hard at James. "Hi Jason," James said, snatching a present with his name on it. "Like them?" He pointed at his horns that were decked out in gold & silver tinsel. Harry cautiously moved closer. Were those the horns of Prongs? "They're very realistic," James went on smoothly. "Almost as if they're a part of my head!" He laughed, ripping his box open. Harry stared. James was risking everything doing that, using the horns of Prongs as if they were nothing more than a charm for reindeer antlers. "MOONY GET DOWN HERE NOW!" He suddenly bellowed. "I swear that guy can sleep through Armageddon."

"I'll go get him," Peter hurried back up the stairs.

James stared at the case of broom care equipment, then checked the card. "From you, Jason?"

Harry nodded, plopping down on the couch. "I heard you & Sirius play Quidditch. I got one for him to."

"Thanks," James turned to the pile of presents, moving them around. "Incidentally, I got something for you to." Harry's heart seemed to leap into his throat. He had never expected James to get him anything. "Here," James handed over a small rectangular package.

Harry opened it up. "An Auror's Survival Guide." He glanced at James who half shrugged.

"Figured you might like to take a look at it," James said. "If you decide to continue your training." He turned back once more to the pile.

"Thank you Dad," Harry whispered ever so softly so no one heard. He cleared his throat & said loudly. "Thanks. I'll definitely use this."

"Eh no problem," James waved a hand, still focusing on a pile. Peter & Remus soon joined him.

They found the box of chocolates that was for all of them. Remus had also given a box of chocolates to Harry. He put it aside as he saw James look up & wave. Lily had joined them. He opened the book for Aurors & pretended to skim through it while watching the pair.

Lily soon found the stationary box filled with various colors of inks & at least five different quills as well as a small bag of her favorite chocolate. She also received a very large box of those same chocolates Harry had put in her stationary chest from an anonymous person (though she immediately called James out on it & he didn't deny anything).

"If you don't want them, I'll have them," Remus smiled oh-so-sweetly.

"You're going to get fatter than Sirius's arse if you keep eating chocolate," Lily pulled the box away. Remus & James burst out laughing.

Harry received another book from Lily, this one a Potions book. Looking inside the pages, he noticed several hand-written notes from Lily to improve the potions. "Ha! Professor Snape. You're going down!" Harry said to himself as he put that into his bag directly on top of the box of chocolates from Remus.

Peter, Remus & James began piling presents into their arms & headed out the portrait to visit Sirius. Harry was left alone with Lily. He sat down on the couch & opened the Potions book, Brew Your Best with these simple tips. Lily climbed onto the couch beside him, kneeling down on the cushion.

"Thanks for this," Harry began. "I used to be really bad at potions."

"I wouldn't have known if you didn't say," Lily said. "You're a lot like Severus & me. I got him a similar book but I'll give it to him when he comes back."

"Must be nice having parents to go home to," said Harry somewhat wistfully.

Lily didn't smile. She sat straight, stretching out her legs to the floor. Harry noticed she was still in her nightgown, a dark shimmering purple covered with a white robe. She was actually very pretty even without being done up in her make up & Harry couldn't blame James for wanting this woman so badly. He just wished James would smarten up a bit. Lily wrenched her eyes away from the fire, looking up at him. "Jason, I know you lost yours but ...not all parents are good."

"Oh I know that," Harry said. "My Dad's a real jerk."

"Ohh," Lily stared at him. "No wonder Severus warmed up to you. He's usually quite shy. I'm worried about him."

"What do you mean?"

Lily watched him for a long time. "You can't tell anyone, not even him that I told you. Sev's dad is very cruel. Almost as bad as Sirius's dad but Sev, unlike Sirius, doesn't deserve one iota of his father's vileness."

"I've heard plenty about Sirius's parents," Harry said. "My father wouldn't do something like that though." Even as he said it, Harry suddenly wondered if he would. "I just mean he's a simple jerk. Likes goofing around & whatnot."

"You mean a bit like James & Sirius?"

"Pretty much," Harry snickered at the irony.

Lily shifted on the couch so that she was closer to Harry. "You must miss them a lot at this time."

Harry stared at the fire, not knowing what to say. He felt something on his shoulder. Lily was lying against him. One second, his brain screamed at him to get away from her but the next reminded him that they were alone at the moment & since James wouldn't know, he wouldn't care. Harry kept his focus on the fire. He was cuddling up with his mother. After all these years of wondering what it would be like, here she was.

After several minutes, Lily lifted her head but didn't move away. Harry glanced at her & they ended up locking eyes. "Jason," Lily gasped softly. "You're a very nice guy you know."

"Yeah," was all Harry could say. He heard the sound of a click as if a door had closed far behind him but it seemed to come from another world.

"A bit like Ray," Lily went on. "Nothing like those Black idiots at all. You don't have a big head like they do."

"I don't have a big butt either," said Harry. They continued to stare at each other, then both burst out laughing.

"Ugh! You know, I hate that guy so much," Lily gasped. "But I've read quite a bit about the venom of the platypus. I almost feel sorry for him."

"Almost," Harry repeated, catching Lily's eye once more. They both snickered again. Harry felt a panic rising. Lily was slowly leaning towards him. She was expecting a kiss! She was so close. Harry froze a moment, then finally made his brain connect to his lips before his mother did. "I'm gay." He pushed thoughts of the beautiful Cho Chang out of his mind. He was not going to kiss his own mother even if he had to sleep with Sirius to get away from her!

It was Lily's turn to freeze. They were both hung in a moment of time as everything came crashing around them. Lily leaned back well away from Harry. "Of course you are. All the good guys are gay."

"Sorry," Harry stared at the fire again, his heart pounding so hard it nearly popped out of his chest. That had been close. Too close & if James ever got wind of what had nearly just happened, being gay wouldn't save him!

"Don't be!" Lily smiled at him. "It's fine. I'm the one who's sorry. I have trouble recognising it. I don't have the supposed gaydar most girls have."

"Maybe it'll pick up later."

They sat in awkward silence, during which time Harry wondered stupidly if his parents would like him regardless of who he ended up being with. They were dead where he came from; they wouldn't care. But Harry had every intention of changing that. Somehow.

"Just do us all a favour," Lily suddenly went on. "Avoid Sirius. He'll sleep with anyone but he won't get attached."

"Ok," Harry hoped he could avoid his godfather as well in this mess. "I don't think he's my type anyway."

"Ooo," Lily cooed & Harry was instantly reminded of Moaning Myrtle. "So you already have a type do you?"

Having no idea how to describe guys as being handsome, Harry said, "I'm not sure yet. Probably someone respectable though." That much was true regardless of man or woman.

"Sirius certainly isn't that!" Lily declared.

"So, what's your type then?" Harry asked.

"Anything remotely unlike James Potter," said Lily, making Harry laugh. "I think I'm into blue eyed blonds really."

"Oh please no," Harry groaned. "I know some one that looks like that," he proceeded to describe Draco Malfoy (not by name) in great detail.

"Sounds like he's related to that stupid Potter family," Lily said.

Harry felt half annoyed. He was a Potter who's father was the actual stupid Potter Lily was whining about. "Probably," Harry forced a weak laugh.

"But looks is only half the deal," Lily went on. "You could be the most handsome guy in the universe, but if you're a complete arse, I won't care."

"That would explain Sirius just fine."

"Exactly!"

They both looked around as they heard the sound of laughter & saw Peter & Remus entering the common room. They were doing impressions of Sirius in bed. "He whined so much, Pomfrey had to put a silencing charm on him," Remus was saying.

"Remus!" Lily said sternly. "I dare you to sit on Philip!"

"Lily, you know Sirius over-exaggerates when he's ill or wounded," Remus defended. "I know the venom hurts, but coming from Sirius, he makes it look twice as bad."

"It's always fun to mock him when he's ill," Peter put in. "The faces he makes are great."

"Some days you two are just as bad as those two," Lily got up & stomped up the girls' stairs.

"Whatever," Remus rolled his eyes. Harry glared at him. "What? If you had to listen to him all night, you'd silence him to!"

Harry snapped his Potions book shut & stood up. "So how is he doing, or does anyone care?"

Remus sighed heavily. "Of course we care! But he brings it on himself. He always makes such a big deal out of pain, more so than necessary."

Peter was standing beside Remus, nodding vigorously. Harry continued to glare at Remus, but suddenly, he found himself forcing himself to glare. Remus, above all others, knew about pain. Being a werewolf was brutal, even more so than platypus venom no doubt; but Harry couldn't let on that he knew every last secret of the pack.

Remus flipped himself onto his back on a sofa along the wall by the window. "He'll be ok," he went on. "Pomfrey says that he didn't get quite as much venom as we had initially thought since his pants had taken most of the brunt. We think maybe two or three weeks."

"So basically the whole holidays," Peter said.

"Maybe that's a good thing," said Harry. "Most of the others have gone home. So maybe no one will have to know."

"Good point," Remus agreed, raising himself up on one arm to look down the short hall leading to the portrait. "Hey Hornhead! Took you long enough."

James crossed his arms & leaned against a desk. He looked ready to kill everything in sight.

"Oh come on," Remus grumbled. "You've got those ridiculous antlers glued to your head. (Harry pretended to not notice the quick nervous glances from the three of them in his direction.) What else am I supposed to call you?"

James scoffed, stood straight & stretched. "I'm going back to bed." Remus stared in surprise. Without another word, he headed for the stairs. But as he passed Harry, he rammed him in the side as if shoving by.

Harry gulped. What had he done wrong now? Or did James see Lily make a move on him? He couldn't possibly...he wasn't here at the time. But somehow, Harry knew he was screwed.

* * *

 _For those not in the know, the male platypus have toxic spurs on their hind flippers filled with mind numbing pain for which there is yet no cure. The pain is right up there with child-birth, crucifixion & a few other torturous scenarios. Apparently, morphine only makes it worse. One can swell up as if they had edemae & the pain/swelling can last a couple weeks or even a few months. No deaths as far as I've studied have been reported by platypus venom yet. I have also read that platypus venom may become a cure for some cancers in the future but the problem now is killing the pain of it. _


	6. Chapter 6

**(6) The Heart Of The Wolf**

James remained mute on the subject when Remus & Peter questioned him later that day if he was feeling alright. He didn't speak to Harry or even look at him; though, he just happened to be around whenever Lily & Harry were in the same room together.

Despite James's unexplainable moodiness, nothing happened to Harry & he slowly began to relax. If this had been about him & Lily on Christmas morning, James surely would have confronted him by now.

The holidays hurried by faster than ever. Most days were cold but clear & several of those who had stayed used the time to go skating. Harry watched, amused, as Remus tried to teach his pureblood friends about skating.

"I've been training them for a couple years," Remus had said. "They still don't get it." Remus then glided easily away with Lily.

Sirius remained in the hospital for the entire time off so Harry never saw him as it would only look strange if he went & visited someone he supposedly 'didn't know to well'. James spent the most time with him.

Remus started to disappear from Harry's everyday life to. Harry had asked Lily about it one day, wondering where Remus was. Lily stared at him for a long time. "He does that," she had said. "A lot. Often, he'll avoid everyone. He'll disappear completely for a bit & then come back looking really ill. I've asked Peter once about it. Ray is apparently very sick, but with what, no one will tell me."

"Well it can't be contagious or anything," Harry offered. "Or he wouldn't be here."

"True," Lily fidgeted with her book bag for a minute. "But the story's changed. It used to be his mother was always sick."

"Hmm," Harry needed to get out of this conversation. "Maybe it's a genetic thing."

"Maybe," Lily shrugged. "Oh by the way, keep an eye out for a rabbit."

"What?"

"I've never seen the thing," Lily went on. "But Remus apparently has a rabbit that keeps disappearing. He calls it his furry little problem."

"Oh. OH! Yeah, ok." Harry knew exactly what the furry little problem was & it certainly wasn't a rabbit.

Harry watched her go into the library. So, his mother didn't know anything. He wondered if she was ever told what was really going on. He had to smile at the ironic predicament he was in. He knew everything, yet had to act like he knew nothing at all to avoid meddling with time, well meddle more than he planned to that is.

The end of the holidays & the full moon was soon upon everyone. On a rare moment Remus showed his face, he was grumpier than ever & Harry knew that the wolf was upset at having only part of his pack with him. He & Remus were sitting at the same desk by the common room window, reading up on some notes to get their minds back into school for the first class the next day & rechecking some homework. Remus suddenly slammed his ink bottle down so hard it cracked & began to ooze. He huffed & got up, marching away. Harry sighed & cast Reparo on the bottle.

Harry was longing for classes to start again. Between the sour attitudes of James & Remus combined, the holidays were being ruined. Harry didn't mind Remus's outbursts, since he knew there was a good reason for it & that the anger wasn't directed at him, but with James on top of it all, glaring or breathing down his neck, Harry figured that the sooner they were all back in class again the better.

The final evening of freedom, Harry was walking alone down one corridor, taking the longer route to the Entrance Hall, when the unexpected happened, driving both James & Remus from his mind. He went down a short flight of stairs & crossed the level floor to the next grand wide stairs leading to the main floor when he noticed an old witch & wizard coming in. Harry met them in the middle of the stairs. For a moment, he couldn't understand why they were so familiar but then his brain caught up with his eyes. He had seen this couple in the Mirror Of Erised. His jaw dropped as he quickly glanced around, hoping his stupid father wouldn't show up just yet & ruin the moment. James was no where in sight, so Harry turned back to Charlus & Dorea as they came up to him.

"Well hello sir," Charlus smiled at him. "Didn't mean to startle you."

Harry remembered he was still gawking like a two year old. "It's fine. Mind's elsewhere. Schoolwork's starting up again soon, you know?"

"Ah, upset that the holidays are almost over?" Charlus laughed. "You sound like you'd get along with Jimmy boy."

Harry burst out laughing before he could stop himself. Jimmy boy! Then his face went bright red. "Sorry. That nickname. Never heard of it before."

"Oh we've called him that for ages," Dorea snickered as Harry slowly relaxed. "Do you know him? I see you're in Gryffindor."

"Yeah," Harry nodded. "I'm just a Temp though. I'm Har—Jason. Dursley."

"Well Jason, any idea where Jim is?" Charlus asked.

"Probably with Sirius," Harry said.

"Jimmy owled us about the platypus," Dorea said.

"That is a sight I won't forget," Harry was suddenly talking fast as he explained every detail.

Both his grandparents laughed. "I think," Charlus began. "That you hang out with Remus then. You're as detailed as he is. Jim just wrote that Sirius sat on a platypus & got stung so he has to stay in the hospital wing all Christmas."

"He isn't one for explaining stuff," Dorea shrugged.

"You know Remus?" Harry knew they'd probably know several of his father's friends, but he was probing to see just how much they knew.

"Yes," Charlus said & his smile faltered for a split second. "How is he?"

"Fine enough," Harry said. He had a feeling that his grandparents understood Remus just fine. "His Dad's here to, teaching the Defence Against The Dark Arts class."

"Yes we've come to talk to him," Dorea said. "Then see James & Sirius before going home."

"I think Professor Lupin's in the Great Hall," said Harry. "I'll bring you there." He led them to the Great Hall & then pretended to leave. In reality, he returned under cloak to listen in.

"Well this is an unexpected surprise," Lupin put his fork down as Charlus & Dorea took seats across from him. "What's wrong?"

Though the Great Hall was mostly empty, Charlus still pulled his wand out & cast a spell that put a barrier around them. Harry just barely had time to duck under the table so that he could stay inside the block yet not have anyone bump into him. He could look up from either side to watch them.

"We've received reports of Voldemort rounding up werewolves to join his cause."

Lupin's face went pale. "Is Remus a target?"

Charlus & Dorea shared a glance. "Not yet," Charlus started.

"But Fenrir's joined," Dorea finished.

Lupin gasped. "He'll come after Remus!"

"We think so," Charlus nodded.

Lupin began collecting his things. "I have to take him out of school then. Bring him back home."

"Hold on," Charlus began & Harry could see that the old Auror was trying hard not to give a direct order. "We all know Remus is close with our son & two others here. Splitting them up would anger his wolf & cause you enough problems to attract unwanted attention."

"Remus might be safer here with Dumbledore," Dorea added.

"If anyone finds out what Remus is now," Lupin said under breath. "They'll waste no time killing him. Too many know about him already."

"Us, Dumbledore, the other professors," Charlus ticked off the list. "Is there anyone else?"

Lupin took a long time in answering. "I don't know. I've told Remus for years to not tell anyone. There is one thing that bothers me though." He paused as if choosing his words carefully. "Please don't take this the wrong way, but two of his friends are related to the Black family. If they ever found out, what do you think they'll do?"

"I doubt James would hurt Remus," Charlus smiled lightly. "Sirius wouldn't either."

"Not intentionally perhaps," Lupin said. "But you know how kids are. They can say something accidently & if it gets back to Orion Black, it will be next to impossible to keep Remus safe."

"That is a good point," Dorea agreed. "Try to find out how much they know. If they do know he's a werewolf, owl us. We can modify their memory."

"No," Harry gasped softly. He clapped a hand to his mouth.

"I'm sorry?" Charlus asked. "Of course, if you'd rather take the risk of allowing them to know, if they do, it's upto you. But I don't recommend it."

"I quite agree," Lupin said.

"Oh," Charlus looked at his wife for a moment. "I thought you had said no."

"I didn't," Lupin shook his head. "But I thought I heard someone say that to."

There was a moment of silence, then a clatter as three chairs were thrown back & the next instant, Charlus, Dorea & John Lyall were all on their hands & knees searching furtively under the table.

Dorea & John were moving away from Harry but Charlus was looking right through him. "James," Charlus hissed under breath so the others wouldn't hear. "Please! This is one time you shouldn't use the cover of Death." Harry blinked. What did that mean?

"I guess we imagined it," Dorea soon gave up as she & John stood up.

Charlus wasn't so sure. He cast a worried glance around again, almost pleadingly. Harry slowly slipped backwards on the floor further away from his grandfather. "James?" Charlus begged softly one last time. After a moment, he finally got to his feet.

Harry didn't dare move until the three of them were almost at the door. He stood up as Charlus opened the door allowing the others through. Charlus glanced back one last time & locked eyes with Harry without even realising it before leaving. The door closed behind him.

Harry couldn't believe it. He had met his grandparents! He never saw them again after that door closed but he had that one moment of time with them he could keep forever. The last few hours of the holidays was passed in a daze. He hoped that his coming here wouldn't alter anything with the pack but as classes began again, he couldn't see anything wrong with James or Sirius ...at least that had to do with memory loss anyway.

Sore though he was, Sirius hobbled into class when school began again. He took his time to sit in various weird positions on piles of cushions & even more time to get off them & if anyone asked why, he apparently fell down some stairs. Harry knew he didn't want the school to know that he had actually been put in place by a measly old 'Aussie rat' so between every muffled yelp & grunt (not to mention snorts of laughter from his idiotic so-called friends), he forced himself to every class. Remus joined them about two days later, equally as sore but not a single complaint from him. Harry silently admitted that he only felt sorry for one of them & hoped the moon hadn't been too bad with only two pack mates for company.

Sirius didn't stop hobbling around until at least three weeks later. It was a good thing to since Quidditch practises were starting again in a few days. When James reminded him of that fact, Sirius groaned. "I simply can't sit on a broom yet." James glared indignantly.

"I played Quidditch where I came from," Harry began. "As Seeker though. But if you want to wait it out, maybe I can ask the Captain to give me a tryout or two." At that, James shot him a glare of pure evil. Harry changed his mind & avoided the Gryffindor captain as much as possible.

It wasn't until a few days later that Harry discovered what was wrong with James. The end of January was cold & windy with more & more snow piling up. During a clearer day, the Herbology class was outside shivering as they transplanted Sparkling Poinsettias, a type of Poinsettia that could shoot sparks from its leaves. The lunch break was after that class & Harry was dreaming for a large bowl of hot soup when something landed on his shoulder. A firm hand.

James smiled wickedly as Harry glanced around to see who was holding him back. "You & I need to have a little talk." He pulled Harry along & seemed surprised at how easily Harry allowed it to happen. He smiled widely. So this guy was one of those guys eh? Rather just take what coming to him & get it over with, being too much of a coward to fight back. This would be easy.

"Jim when you give someone that talk," Sirius smiled, following along. Evidently, this has happened before with others. "There really isn't much talking going on."

"Where are we going?" Harry resisted the urge to add Dad to the end of it.

"Nowhere," Sirius answered, wagging his eyebrows.

James led them away from the castle, down a hill & off the track. He pulled them behind some large boulders. Harry glanced around. They were down by the lake & well hidden from prying eyes on the castle. He turned back to James, about to ask what they were doing here, when his right cheek flared with pain. Harry stumbled backwards until he hit the wall of rock & cliff. He put one hand on his cheek & felt his own blood. Dumbfounded from the blow, he stared at James.

Harry's only thought at the moment was that he had just been punched so hard in the face by his own father that he was now bleeding. No matter what he tried to tell himself—He's not my dad yet. We're just two fifteen year olds. He doesn't know!—it didn't change facts. His father had hit him hard. No two ways about it. At that moment, Harry's ideals of his father fractured completely until they were dashed to bits like a wave upon the shore.

Sirius grabbed Harry's hand & pulled it away from his cheek. "We're just getting started," He said the moment before James landed another hard blow to Harry's stomach.

Harry doubled over. He couldn't believe how strong his father was at this age & wondered vaguely if James was using the strength of the stag within. He hardly had time to think before Sirius grabbed him by the hair & wrenched him forward. Harry landed on his knees & the only thing that stopped him from getting seriously hurt on the rocky shore was the snow. James hit him again, wounding his other cheek.

"Are you sorry yet?" Sirius taunted.

"I don't understand!" Harry shouted back. "What's wrong with you? What did I do?"

"Hmm," James scoffed. "Be grateful you're a lion with lions for parents, or as you say anyway. I'm actually taking it easy on you."

Harry gasped in horror. What else was James planning for him? "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?" James crossed his arms & glared. "Stay the bloody hell away from Lily Evans! Do I make myself clear?"

"Li—what? Is that was this is abo—!"

Harry cried out as Sirius wrenched his hair again. If this was going easy on him, what would it be like if James got worse? He didn't want a confrontation with his own father. He kept telling himself that this didn't make James an abusive parent but the rest of his brain wasn't accepting the message right now. This was just a teenage hormone fight. Your own father just beat you up; don't deny it. Harry cursed his inner voice. He had to get out of this. Quickly, before James caused any more damage ...& not just physical.

"I saw you!" James punched Harry again & Sirius let him drop. James kicked hard at Harry's ribs. "I had come back for a present I had forgotten for Sirius. You & Lily were kissing!"

"WHAT? NO! OOF!" Harry balled up as James landed on his chest & rammed Harry so hard back on the ground, he hit his hand on the stones.

"YOU WERE KISSING!" James shouted at him.

"NO WE WEREN'T!"

"LIAR!" James slapped Harry across the face sending his glasses flying. Sirius stomped on them. "I was there. I saw you!"

"You saw nothing," Harry spat out blood & snow. "We didn't actually do anything."

James put one hand on Harry's stomach & pressed in, winding him. "I saw enough!"

"You think you'd get away with that?" Sirius put in, grabbing Harry's hair again. "We were only waiting for me to get better. Lily isn't for you!"

"I know that!" Harry shot back. "If you'd let me expl—"

"Yeah ok," James said after double-punching Harry in the chest. "Go on. Explain. How you stabbed me in the back!" He jumped up & grabbed Harry's collar, hauling him back to his feet. "COME HERE!" He slammed Harry against the boulder once more. Harry could see angry tears in James's eyes. "I'll never trust you alone with her again! If I see one more move from you I swear to God I'll kill you! STAY!" Punch. "AWAY!" Kick. "FROM!" Slap. "MY!" Hair wrench. "GIRL!" He finished with a hard kick to Harry's stomach, making him double over.

Sirius & James watched him collapse, planning their next move. Harry lowered himself to the ground. "You have no idea what you've just done," He gasped through tears. "No idea at all!" How could his father, or his godfather for that matter, do this to him? He glared up at them. James was so enraged, he was shaking. At least he's loyal, the voice told Harry, as if that made everything ok.

"I'm teaching you a lesson!" James ground out through gritted teeth. He kicked Harry in the side, making him fall over. Sirius grabbed his hair once more, lifting his face up to look at James.

"I'm gay you dumb arse!" Harry finally managed to say. "I'll talk to whoever girl I wish!" Wham! James had slapped him so hard that the only thing stopping Harry's head from being turned was Sirius's firm grip on it.

"You're just saying that to get out of learning your lesson!" James snarled.

"No I'm not!" Harry began.

"Fine be that way!" James interrupted. "I thought I'd be easy on a fellow cat. But you're not really one of us. Just a visitor." He pulled out his wand & swung it upwards in a slashing motion. Harry felt his face split open on the left side from chin to above his eye. Blood leaked into his eye & down his nose into his mouth.

"I'll prove it to you!" Harry shot back, trying to tug out of Sirius's hands without success. Sirius was rather strong as well.

"Oh yeah? How?"

"Let me up."

"No."

"DA—MN you!" Harry had almost said dad. "Let me up or risk getting caught by a Prefect!" He looked pointedly past James.

Both James & Sirius moved away from Harry as none other than Remus Lupin appeared, walking along the shore. He didn't notice them right away.

Harry suddenly had a wild idea that would not only hopefully get James off his case but also get him an instant new pair of glasses that he needed rather badly. He grabbed James on the shoulder as he threw himself onto him. The pair stumbled back into the boulder with James trapped between that & Harry. He slammed James into the hard rock & began trying to kiss him as James wriggled trying to get away. Both tasted the iron of Harry's blood. Harry made sure to bite down on James's lower lip. At that precise moment, Harry passed one hand over his father's face & snatched the glasses since his own were now broken. He heard Sirius swearing somewhere off to the side.

"What is going on?" Remus exclaimed.

Harry broke off harassing (robbing) James. "Teaching the handsome Jim here a few tricks."

Remus started to laugh, thought better of it & glanced over the three of them. Sirius was still gaping. James was rooted to the spot in shock, his lower lip bleeding & Harry stared coolly back at Remus while one hand was still gripping James on the shoulder. "Jim doesn't swing that way," Remus managed to say, taking in Harry's wounds on his face. "He likes Lily."

"I know," Harry shrugged finally letting James go. James gasped & doubled over hands on knees. Since Sirius was still gaping, Harry used this moment to put his hands in his pockets, hiding the stolen glasses.

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?" James shrieked as he slowly stood straight, He wiped his mouth with one hand, glaring.

"You asked me how to prove I wasn't into girls," Harry resisted every last urge to wipe his half of the kiss off in front of James. He didn't want to blow his cover, fragile as it was to begin with.

"You think that would work?" James snarled through gritted teeth.

Harry shrugged & looked back at Remus. "Doesn't hurt to try though."

Remus just stared at him. "You might want to try Sirius. He'd sleep with anyone at the drop of a hat."

"Would not," Sirius defended.

Harry hoped Remus was exaggerating. The last thing he needed was to fend off his young, horny godfather on top of it. Manhandling Dad was more than enough! "He's not my type." Harry ignored the amazed look on Sirius's face. He had a sinking feeling Sirius would become a problem later. Oh well. Too late now.

"Well Jason," Remus said sternly. "You are certainly not Jim's type."

Harry cast a quick smile at James. "Too bad. He's kinda cute." At that, he turned & walked away. For added emphasis, he even gave Remus a small tap on the behind as he past.

"Jason Dursley!" Remus gaped at him. "That was inappropriate! Fifty points from Gryffindor for your misconduct. Do that again & you'll be in trouble."

"Sheesh," Harry grumbled. "Tough crowd."

Remus shot a glare at James, knowing the mess was his fault. It was the only reason he let Harry go. "What the hell did you do, you moron?"

"I lost my glasses," James snarled. "Damn it! Where are they?"

As soon as Harry was out of their sight, he broke into a run. He ran hard & fast to the nearest washroom & locked himself inside. He then began washing his hands & rinsing out his mouth. After several minutes, he leaned over the sink, a disgruntled look on his face. "Ugh! Mother! How ever did you end up with that?" Must be a girl thing, Harry decided.

Harry stared in the mirror, inspecting his wounds. He sat on the floor, not believing what just happened. Harry wiped tears from his face & looking at his fingers, he saw that the tears were made of blood. He felt a hard lump in his throat & suddenly Harry leaned over, putting his forehead to the cool stone floor. He cried softly to himself for several minutes. His father had beaten him up. There was no way around it & he had no idea how to get over it.

Harry's sobs slowly subsided. He sat up, staring across the room at nothing, hating his father more than anyone else, even Voldemort. A father was supposed to protect their young, not beat them nearly to death. He doesn't know me! It doesn't matter! Harry drew in a shaking breath. He decided then & there, James Potter would not be his father. He didn't want his mother mixing up with someone like that. Harry wanted to find himself another father & match him up to Lily. Or ... or ... or be his own father. Ugh! Harry hoped he wouldn't have to go there. He slowly stood up & washed his face gently, tending to the split bruises & the gash. One eye was black. He would have to go to the hospital wing to get Pomfrey to clear that up.

When he finally came out, Harry almost literally walked into Remus who had been leaning against the wall as if waiting for him. Remus stood straight. "Do you mind telling me what your problem is?"

"Sorry Sir?" Harry said.

"You all but rape Jim," Remus said. "Then come after me as well."

"I did...I didn't rape him! Is that what he told you?"

"He didn't tell me anything," Remus huffed. "They both said they were just fooling around."

"Well," Harry shrugged helplessly. "We were. I have to get to the hospital wing." He started in that direction.

"Jim is not like that!" Remus defended as he followed. "And I don't think you are either. But if you are, I'll have to report you. Don't ever do something so ...so ...so aggressive again."

Harry glared out of his better eye. "Look, if you must know, I'm gay."

"I noticed."

"But neither James or Sirius knew that before now," Harry went on. "I'm not quite out yet. James thinks I'm after Lily but I couldn't care less about her."

"What does Lily have to do with this?"

"They were beating me up over Lily Evans," Harry stated & the werewolf let out a long low breath as he clued in at last.

They stopped walking as Remus crossed his arms, heaved a heavy sigh & rolled his eyes so hard they nearly exited the back of his head. "Heard it all before. Frequently," Remus began. "Is that why you have bruises on your face?"

Harry nodded. "I don't care about some girl 'cause I like guys," He added. "Lily's nice & all that but she's not my thing. None of the girls are. Those two didn't believe me."

"Is it possible you just said that to get out of a beating?" Remus asked. Harry gaped at him but Remus was smiling softly. "Don't worry. Your secret's safe with me."

"Thanks Sir," Harry said with relief.

"Quit calling me Sir," Remus said. "I'm just a Prefect."

He was so much more to Harry. "I thought all four of you were self appointed royalty though."

Remus burst out laughing. "Jim & Sirius like to think so at least." Harry nodded in agreement. Remus clasped his hands behind his back & moved closer. "So ... do you like Lily then? You do spend a lot of time with her."

Harry glared. "Oh spying on me are you?" He snapped. "You tell James Potter that if he wa—"

"I'm not going to Jim with this," Remus interrupted, putting up a hand. He glanced at the floor for a moment. "I actually want to know." He looked Harry in the eye. "You won't have a problem with me, Jason."

"No," Harry said flatly. "She's just a friend. I have a girl back home already. I don't need another one."

"I see," Remus sighed, looking away out a tall window. A few flakes began to fall.

Harry had a sense of déjà vu from a similar reaction of Remus back in his third year. They had been on the bridge & Remus had admitted to knowing his parents in school. He had mentioned Lily. **They're your mother's eyes. Oh yes! I knew her. *** Harry let out a gasp. "You're in love with her."

Remus spun sharply on the spot to look at Harry. "Don't be silly Jason. She's a good friend."

"So is James, isn't he?" Harry went on. "But he ended up with first dibs on her & if you say anything else, he'll turn on you."

Remus glared at him, before turning his gaze away. But Harry was used to seeing the signs & knew the wrath of Moony was roused. Remus was hiding eyes of gold. When he got the wolf under control, Remus looked back at Harry. "Now you listen to me! James would never turn on me. You don't know what you're saying."

"Then go after Lily," Harry said, much preferring to have Remus as a father.

"I can't."

"Are you afraid of James?"

"No!"

"Then why not?"

"You don't understand!" Remus glared out the window again. Harry could see his dim reflection. He pretended not to though as the eyes were rimmed with gold once more. "I have other circumstances that get in the way."

Harry was about to ask what, then realised it was the Lycanthropy. "Maybe it will work out."

"You don't get it," Remus muttered, walking away without even looking at Harry. "I'll only end up hurting her."

Harry hurried after him. "Ray, you are quite possibly the only person in this school that won't hurt anyone."

Remus stopped & shook his head. He laughed before walking away again. "You really don't understand."

* * *

 *** From 'Harry Potter & The Prisoner Of Azkaban' movie**


	7. Chapter 7

**(7) Cold Snap**

When Lily found out what James & Sirius had done to Harry, she put them both in the hospital wing with a good hex of boils. She made sure that the boils appeared in their more personal areas & that compounded with the lingering affect of Philip's sting all but made Sirius scream in agony.

Harry realised that he no longer cared what kind of pain either of those boys were in. He had lost all respect for a father that, in his mind, never existed & as for Sirius, though he was grateful for Sirius doing everything he could to keep Harry safe from the real traitor during his own 3rd year, Harry was now quickly losing respect points for him to. He wished he had asked Sirius, or Remus, about how his parents had gotten together for at the moment, Harry couldn't see how Lily would ever sink to the level James.

The only one besides Lily that wasn't completely ruined for him was Remus. Harry enjoyed watching the werewolf pup simply living without the cares of the world he bore as an adult. It was also particularly amusing to watch Remus interact with his father.

Remus would try to be on his best behaviour whenever Professor Lupin was around. He wouldn't even look at James or Sirius & he would become much more serious & grown up. But the moment his father looked away, he instantly reverted to a carefree rambunctious pup. Twice more over the past month, John Lyall Lupin handed out detention for Remus for his questionable behaviour, one time being caught with a stolen bottle of Firewhiskey ...half finished. Even Harry raised a brow at that one.

"Best years of my life & he's ruining everything," Remus snapped at Harry as he stomped off for detention.

Harry had not spoken to or even looked at James or Sirius since the beating. It had been almost a week but he was still wounded in a way Madam Pomfrey could never fix. He had modified the stolen glasses so James wouldn't recognise them but part of him hated the idea of putting on glasses belonging to James Potter. Harry slowly made his way to the next Defence Against The Dark Arts lesson & a small tiny part of him was wishing Umbridge was there instead. Harry was wanting to go home. He had lost a father & godfather by coming here. As he turned into the corridor leading towards the classroom, Dumbledore caught up to him.

"I have found everything I need to recreate your time vortex," Dumbledore began. "I've had to wait for permission from the Ministry for some ingredients but they'll be here in a few days. I think we should send you home during the next Hogsmeade trip on Valentine's so no one will interrupt you."

Harry nodded. "It will give me time to say goodbye to a few people." He thought of Lily & hoped he would see his mother on the other side at least.

"There is one more thing," Dumbledore went on. "You left your time & arrived here on a particular date. The reverse will be the same."

"So it will be Valentine's then?" Harry said. "But...but what about my OWL's classes & everyone missing me all that time?"

"Your classes won't be affected as we will keep Jason Dursley's marks for you," Dumbledore reminded him. "As for those missing you, I'll clear that up when I get to it. By that time," he smiled at the pun. "I will know everything about it."

"Alright," Harry sighed, partly glad to go. "I'll see you at Valentine's then."

Dumbledore began walking away. "It's a date."

Harry just gaped at his retreating back. He was brought back to reality by the sound of a door banging open & angry voices shouting in French. Harry glanced down the hall to see Remus storming out of the Dark Arts classroom, his father close behind him. Both were shouting at each other. Harry slipped on the Cloak so they wouldn't notice. He couldn't understand much of what they were saying, but it looked like Remus was in trouble once more. He caught only a few words, names mostly.

Remus & his father stood facing each other with John pointing back into the classroom as if trying to get his son back inside.

" _Non NON (No NO)!"_ Remus shot back angrily, holding up both hands as tears streamed down his face.

"Remus John!" Lupin glared at him, grabbing Remus by the shoulder. He said something loud in French & pointed again with his free hand into the classroom.

Remus shook his father's hand off & shot a look of pure golden anger at him. He shook his head wildly & mentioned James & Sirius.

Harry heard only two words in Lupin's reply 'Black' & ' _loup-garou'_ which Harry knew was French for werewolf. It was the only word he knew besides a few choice swears Remus had taught him back in his own time. This younger Remus let out a yell of frustration  & stormed off. "Remus? REMUS!" Lupin yelled at his son some more but Remus was having none of it. Finally in English Lupin bellowed. "REMUS JOHN GET BACK HERE THIS INSTANT!"

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Remus screamed back before disappearing around the corner.

"THIS ISN'T OVER!" Lupin continued to bellow. "WAIT UNTIL I GET MY HANDS ON YOU!" He turned & entered the classroom, slamming the door so hard it bounced right open again.

It wasn't a moment too soon either as other students began arriving for class. Harry put the Cloak away & hurried forward. James, Sirius & Peter all showed up but not Remus; though, Harry didn't think Remus would come back any time soon. He had never seen Remus & his father actually fight & had thought they got along well despite the hovering so the blow up had come as a surprise.

As the class sat down, Lupin closed the drawer of his desk a bit harder than usual, then turned to the class. "50 points from Gryffindor," he began. He let the lions murmur about it & Harry glanced back at James, Sirius & Peter but they seemed just as confused. "For Remus deliberately not showing up." Without further explanation, Lupin went on with class.

Harry again checked on his father & two remaining friends. They had their heads bent together, talking fervently in low tones. Harry craned his neck a bit more & he could see that they were looking at something they were hiding under the desk, but didn't know what.

"AHEM!" Lupin coughed loudly, glaring at the trio. "If you don't put that away now, I'll have to take 30 more points from your house. That's your only warning!"

Harry put an open book up to hide his face so he could watch as James & Sirius slowly sat up straight, shoving a large half-crumpled, half-folded parchment into Sirius's bag. James put up a hand. "Sir? Where is Remus then?"

"Never you mind," Lupin glared at him. "Now," he addressed the whole class. "Open your books to page **394**.*" He turned away  & sat down at the desk.

Remus didn't show up for the last two classes of the day & neither did he come to the Great Hall in the evening. James, Sirius & Peter only stayed to wolf down some food, then stashed a few sandwiches in their pockets & left hurriedly. Harry soon followed, using old familiar pathways. He ended up in the corridor to the Fat Lady almost the same time James, Sirius & Peter did.

James barely glanced at Harry as he stepped up to the Portrait & opened it. Instead of going straight forward through the short hall leading to the common room, James stopped in front of the **little door in the wall leading to a personal study **** that only 5th years  & up could use. "He's in here," he turned left.

Harry pretended to go onward, but then slipped on the Cloak & after giving them time to be well settled in the study room, he cautiously opened the door & stepped inside. He found the group at the far end next to a **small portrait that opened into a secret room that Harry had seen Fred & George use many times. *****

Remus was curled up on an armchair as if sleeping. James gave him a shake. Remus raised his head, glaring gold. "You ok Moony?" James asked in a tender voice that Harry thought didn't belong to him.

"You cost us 50 points, you mangy flea bag," Sirius crossed his arms. Remus just stuck his tongue out at him.

Peter put the stolen food on the desk. "We brought you something."

"Mm mm," Remus leaned away. "Thanks, but I'm not hungry."

The other three shared glances. "What happened?" James asked as they all settled themselves on the floor.

"Papa & I had a huge fight," Remus muttered.

"Uh the entire school heard that one," Sirius scoffed. "Good thing it was in French so no one understood."

"Papa just found out that ..." Remus sighed heavily. "That uh ... you three know. Ya know ...about me."

"Why would he get mad at something like that?" Peter asked.

Remus looked him over & put a hand out. Peter switched to the old familiar Scabbers Harry had grown up with & Remus put the large rat into his lap. "Because Wormtail," Remus began.

"Because of me, isn't it?" Sirius said.

Remus nodded slowly. "James to."

"Why me?"

"You two are related," Remus explained. "The Black family is well known for being the top werewolf hunters around. Papa never wanted anyone of your kind to know what I was."

"Remus, I would never kill you!" Sirius exclaimed. "He knows that!"

"Same here," James defended.

"He's worried mostly about your father, Padfoot."

Sirius let out a breath. "If Dad gets within two miles of you, he'll be the one who's dead."

"Papa wants to pull me out of school," Remus went on. James & Sirius both gasped. "I told him he was being ridiculous. You guys would never turn me in! He reminded me of the fact that when I first started coming here, I wasn't supposed to tell anyone, least of all anyone from the Black family. Now, two of you know."

"He can't do that!" James gasped. "He can't take you away from us. He just can't!"

"He can," Remus stated simply. "Both my parents are always terrified someone bad will discover me."

"We won't hurt you!" James was practically sobbing. "We can't lose you now. You've got to stay."

"Prongs calm down," Remus patted his head. "I have every intention of staying."

"If he only knew half of what we do for you!" James went on.

"I KNOW!" Remus actually growled. "I hate him so much right now! But it isn't his fault. He can't know about what you three do. No one can know that! You'll all end up in Azkaban!" He sat back in the armchair, clutching Wormtail to his chest. He began petting the rat's back.

James rested his head on Remus's knees. "What are we going to do then?" He let out his horns all the way & Remus put one hand on them, rubbing the fuzzy velvet that was growing as Wormtail perched on the werewolf's shoulder.

"I'm going to talk to him tomorrow, when we've both calmed down," Remus said. "I'll make him see reason. Papa just wants to protect me but ... but I'm not a pup anymore. I'm growing up now. He can't be there forever. I have my pack now. I'll be fine." Remus slid off the chair to his knees on the floor. He put the rat aside & Peter soon reappeared. "Pull the horns in Prongs. Anyone fifteen & over can come in here."

James put an arm around Remus. "I won't let him take you away." He slowly but surely pulled the horns in.

"I'll deal with him tomorrow," Remus pulled a pack of Exploding Snap cards from his pocket. "Just forget about it for now."

The four of them dived into teams, Sirius & Remus against James & Peter. Harry turned away & headed for his own bed. He put the cloak away & sat down. He had just seen a very different side of his father. A side that he had envisioned all along & had ended up believing never existed. Why couldn't James be like that all the time? Harry wondered if maybe Lily would catch sight of a scene like that someday & that would be what turned everything around. James, Sirius & Peter all but worshipped the very ground Remus walked on. What caused James to smarten up yet Peter to turn against them? Harry pulled out some homework & stretched out across the bed. He looked up a short time later at the sound of someone knocking.

Sirius opened the door half way & stopped, not sure if he should come in or not. "Uh ... hi."

Harry blinked like an owl. "What the hell do you want?"

"Uh," Sirius came in farther. "Well, I was ..." They stared at each other. Harry could only glare. "Uh I'm ... I'm not very good with words."

"If you have something to say, just say it," Harry snapped. "It really isn't that hard!"

Sirius chewed his lower lip for a moment, looking anywhere but at Harry. "Alright," he laughed nervously. He sat on the bed across from Harry. "Uh ok. Well ...look, sorry about...about beating you up. We weren't bashing you."

"Yes you were."

"No," Sirius held up his hands in defense. "Jim & I don't care who one sleeps with so long as it isn't Lily."

Harry muttered, "You really have no clue what you've done."

"Jim loves her," Sirius stated simply. "Why I don't know. I can't stand her but she's his girl."

"I know that already," Harry huffed. "I don't bloody care."

"Ok," Sirius sighed, rubbing his knees for a moment. "James said he saw you kiss her though."

"Next time, just ask what really happened," Harry slammed his book onto his pillow. "I didn't kiss her. She was leaning on me, yes. But she never had a gay friend before & you know how girls attract to us like moths to flames." He left out the part that Lily had tried kissing him first. "James can go hump a hornet's nest." Harry picked up his book again. "Lily & I are just gal pals if you get my drift."

Sirius laughed again. "Jim certainly hopes so."

"He doesn't deserve her," Harry replied. "He's vile & cruel & I don't want him hurting her."

"He would never!"

"Oh really? How can you be sure?" Harry said. "He goes around beating people up at the slightest hint of them being around Lily. His temper is too quick. What if he turns into a wife beater? I don't want him around her or any other girl!" Harry stuck his nose up a bit higher. "Or me, for that matter."

"Wow," Sirius stared at him. "You don't know him at all."

"I don't want to know him!" Harry wasn't lying either. "I don't want to have anything to do with him!"

"James would never ever hurt Lily!" Sirius shot to his feet. "Or any girl. He's more of a gentleman to them than I am."

"Whatever!"

"I'll prove it," Sirius said.

"Yeah? Good luck with that!" Harry turned a page, trying to make it clear that he was done talking.

"Come on a date with me."

Harry laid his book down. "What the bloody hell?"

"I don't mind trying out new things," Sirius explained. "Hogsmeade weekend is coming up. For Val's day you know? Why not you & I go out together & you will see how we can be? We're not all that bad."

"I'd rather kiss a Dementor," Harry snarled through gritted teeth.

"Just once chance," Sirius actually got on his knees & put his hands together. "Please?"

"You suck, Sirius," Harry glared pointedly at his book. Too late he realised the trap he just set.

Sirius purred, "Wouldn't you like to know?"

Harry glared at him. Sirius knelt there, looking pathetically handsome. Pleading. Sweet. Harry tried to envision how he looked after Azkaban. Sirius whimpered like a puppy. Harry groaned. He had known that Sirius would end up being a problem. Now he was stuck with the handsome jerk. Then he remembered, he was going home on Valentine's anyway. Sirius would be left high & dry & served him right to! "Alright fine!" Harry gave up.

"That's better," Sirius stood up.

"But don't expect much from me," Harry went on. "I'm still virgin & not quite out yet. I'm looking for something ...er …long lasting. Not a fling. This is just to see how good you & James can behave. Nothing more. Got it?"

"Gryffindor's honor," Sirius crossed his heart. "I'll see you at the gate then." He said as he left.

"Brilliant!" Harry did a double thumb up but the moment Sirius was out of earshot, he grumbled, "Never going to happen." Harry lay back on his bed, glaring at the ceiling. "Ugh! Kill me now!" He suddenly jumped to his feet & followed after Sirius. He stayed well behind as he neared the common room. Harry didn't enter, only staying in the archway to watch. It was quite late now & only Sirius & James were there.

"So, did you ask him out?" James asked.

"Yeah, I asked him."

There was a long moment. Harry rolled his eyes. James had sent Sirius to him to see just how gay he was. "Let me guess," James finally spoke. "He forgot that he's gay & said no. He really likes girls, doesn't he?"

"Um," Sirius raised a brow, looking at the floor.

"He said yes?" James gasped, putting both hands over his mouth.

"Yeah," Sirius said. "We're going out for Valentine's."

"Hmm," James sighed. "Maybe he really is gay then."

"If he is, you owe him an apology."

"Excuse me?" James gaped at him.

"Well we both beat him up pretty bad," Sirius went on hurriedly. "If he's gay, he didn't deserve it."

"But ... but Lily was all over him! I was here. I saw them!"

"He said they were just leaning on each other," Sirius tried.

"Oh & you believe him?"

"Well girls do have a weird fetish for gay guys," Sirius shrugged. "He considers himself one of her gal pals."

"He better not be a virgin after Val's day, Padfoot!" James turned & headed up the main stairs to the permanent dormitories.

"Glad I'm leaving that day," Harry complained to himself as he went back up the few short stairs to the guest dorms.

The next day, annoyingly, Sirius just happened to appear beside Harry any chance he got; walking along with him & even once dared to hold open a door. He seemed to think that since Harry had accepted his offer of a date that he was now something of a boyfriend. Sirius managed a soft smile & even once a wink in Harry's direction. Harry was starting to feel an old familiar sensation of wanting to kill Sirius like back in his third year & decided that if Sirius tried to hold his hand that he would do exactly that.

That evening, Harry was sitting at a desk in the back of the library, taking notes for a Herbology essay, when Sirius showed up. He dropped into the chair next to Harry & patted his shoulder.

Harry's eyes snapped up to stare across the table. He noticed James standing nearby, looking at a book, or so he seemed. Harry forced himself to look at Sirius without glaring. "What?" Was all he could muster. He twisted slightly, trying to get the hand off while appearing to reach for his bag. The hand only slipped down his arm a little.

"Want to see something cool?"

"I told you," Harry tried not to snap. "I'm still a virgin."

Sirius smiled seductively at him. "I know. Don't worry, you're safe with me." The hand finally retreated from off Harry's arm. "Anyway Jason, a Death Eater was caught on the grounds today. He's being held in one of the towers."

"I've seen Death Eaters before," Harry shrugged, not really interested.

"Yeah but guess what's holding him?" Sirius leaned in closer in a conspiring way.

"A locked door?" Harry rhetorically asked.

"Dementors," Sirius whispered in his ear. "Two of them!"

"Seen those before to," Harry said.

"Really?" Sirius raised a brow. "I've only seen pictures. Jim & I are going to sneak up there to take a look. Want to come along?"

Harry stared at him, a cold fear rising in his heart. If only Sirius knew he would spend twelve years with the entire swarm. He would never want to see them! What if one of those things got to him now? Wait, why should he care? Harry mentally cursed himself. Deep down inside, somewhere, he still cared about this arrogant self-absorbed moron yet hadn't a clue why.

Sirius studies Harry's face for a moment. "Of course, if you're afraid ..." He let it hang, but it was clear he was not impressed by Harry's reaction.

"I'm not," Harry said.

"You look like you are."

Harry wanted to personally hand-feed Sirius to one of the beasts. "Let's go." He got up first.

James fell beside them. "Dumbledore's in a tizzy. He doesn't like those things, but they're going to be here overnight."

"I have no idea why," Harry droned sardonically.

Sirius led the way. It was a long, hard climb to the tip of the tallest tower. Harry had been here once before; though, on the outside astride Buckbeak just to get the adult Sirius out of the same tower. They went down a long hall, up some more stairs & through two doors. Ahead was a turn off & Sirius stopped at the corner. He glanced around it for a moment.

"Oh yeah," Sirius whispered excitedly. "They're there alright!"

"Let me see, let me see!" James tried to shove past.

"Careful!" Sirius hissed in a whisper. "Get too close, you'll lose your soul!"

"I know that," James huffed. He leaned around the corner as Sirius put his hands up against his shoulders to haul him back if he had to. "Ooo! Man those are some ugly & disgusting creatures."

"Yeah," Sirius waited for James to step back so he could look around the corner again. "Hey there's another door just up ahead. We could get closer."

"What?" Harry wanted nothing more than to smack some sense into Sirius.

"Are you scared?" James taunted.

"No," Harry said. "But the doors were off limits for a reason. Those things patrol you know."

"You're scared," James shared a look with Sirius.

"We're not even that close," Sirius said. "They won't stray far from the door to that cell & besides, this door right down here is for an unused classroom. We can just dive in there & close the door."

"Do either of you know how to do the Patronus?" Harry asked.

"What's a Patronus?" James asked.

Harry stared at him. Not only had he known what a Patronus was since third year; but also learned how to produce a fully corporeal one that same year. Then the adult Remus's voice rang in his head: 'Well beyond the Ordinary Wizarding Levels.' "A Dementor shield. Never mind."

James shrugged, then turned to Sirius. "Ok, lead the way."

Sirius checked around the corner once more, then moved into the corridor. He started for the classroom door on his left & James soon followed with Harry close behind. Harry kept one hand on his wand ... just in case. Sirius had almost reached the door & Harry felt that maybe they would make it unnoticed when suddenly, the Dementor closest to them moved. Sirius froze.

The Dementor glided into the center of the hall way, appeared as if to look Sirius over, then suddenly swooped in. Sirius back-stepped so fast, he crashed into James & both tumbled to the floor at Harry's feet. The Dementor floated over them. The cold crashed over all three like a tidal wave as the sucking, rattling breath wafted over their faces.

"Get back, get back James!" Sirius tried to pick himself up & shove James back at the same time.

The Dementor paused & swung its head back & forth slowly, as if considering which of the boys to go for first.

"I told you they patrol!" Harry whipped out his wand just as the Dementor decided to make a meal of James. "EXPECTO PATRONUM!" The great silver stag burst forth & bounded down the length of the hall, carrying the first Dementor in its horns & picking up the second one on the way by. Harry grabbed both Sirius & James by the collars & yanked them back, throwing them around the corner. He went back into the hallway & put up his free hand. "COME BACK!"

Sirius & James watched thunderstruck as the great stag of pure light bounded into sight & put its nose into Harry's open palm. It disappeared. Harry rounded on his father & godfather. Sirius was gaping & James had both hands in his hair. "What the bloody hell was that?" James finally gasped.

Harry herded them back towards the door of the stairs. Once through, he began shouting at them. "Imbeciles! You're lucky I came with you. That was exactly what I thought would happen & you incompetent fools call me scared! HOW DARE YOU? I know how to defend myself against them. You two obviously don't! What is wrong with you?"

"Jason!" James just stared at him. "What on Earth did you just do?"

"It's called the Patronus," Harry quickly explained how it was a shield. He turned & marched down the long stair case.

"Prongs," Sirius whispered to James. "That ...that THING! It looked like a Stag!"

"I know Pads. There's something really weird here," James suddenly bounded down the stairs to catch up to Harry. "Jason? JASON! Wait up!"

"Why should I?" Harry snarled, marching faster.

"But ... but I don't understand why it looked like a deer?"

"Everybody's Patronus takes on the shape of something personal to the individual," Harry explained as briefly as he could, not really wanting to talk right now, he was so mad.

"So it doesn't have to be deer?" James asked. He grabbed Harry by the shoulder to stop him in his tracks. "Hang on, you have friends who can do that?"

"From where I came from," Harry muttered as he slapped the hand away before turning onto a new set of stairs going up but this time, heading for Gryffindor Tower. He missed teaching his friends. They were supposed to start the Patronus Charms after Christmas. Now who was going to teach them?

"Jason," Sirius also put a hand on Harry's arm to stop him for the second time. Harry turned to glare. "Can you teach us how to do that?"

"Probably," Harry replied earning stares. They had expected him to say no.

Abruptly, they arrived at the Fat Lady. The long corridor was gone tonight & for the moment the top of the Grand Stair case led directly to her. James gave the password, then led everyone inside. He turned immediately into the private study room instead of going to the common room. "Jason, can you show us that thing again?"

Harry sighed. "Expecto Patronum." The silver stag was soon bounding around him. It stopped beside him & Harry put a hand on its neck. "When done properly, it's actually quite solid." Sirius & James both reached out to touch it. James slowly walked around it, inspecting the stag from every angle. Harry soon got bored & raised his hand. The stag vanished.

"That is some kind of magic," James said.

Harry nodded. "It's quite advanced for Hogwarts."

"I wonder if it's even taught here," Sirius was staring at Harry.

"No idea," Harry shrugged. 'I've got to finish up an essay before going to bed. See you tomorrow." He turned to leave.

"Jason?" Sirius began. He hesitated a moment. "Uh ...good night."

"Good night," Harry left them at last.

The moment the door closed, James said, "Sirius, that Patronus is the exact image of Prongs. Exactly!'

"Silly, Prongs isn't the only Stag in the universe," Sirius said. "They all have the similar shape of being a deer."

"I'm telling you, it's Prongs!"

"How do you figure that?"

"I've said it before & I'll say it again: there is something weird about that Dursley kid," James stated. "I don't care if you have to give him Love potion. Find out his secrets by Valentine's day."

"Alright, alright," Sirius muttered. "But if I get caught doing that, I could get in trouble for date rape."

James rolled his eyes. "So don't go THAT far with him. Just enough to get him to spill his secrets."

* * *

 *** Originally, I had this at page 412, random pick ... but now ... I can not believe how many died this past week, including poor Alan Rickman! So here's tribute for him.**

 **** From 'Harry Potter & The Chamber Of Secrets' EA video game for Playstation 2**

 ***** (same thing)**

 **(For those that didn't play that game, there are 3 rooms actually. The study room, the secret room behind it for Fred/George & the other room is across that short hallway from the Portrait to the main common room. Coming into the Portrait, one would turn right instead. This one's very small, hiding behind a tapestry.)**


	8. Chapter 8

**(8) Mirror Map**

Sirius became even more of a nuisance after the incident with the Dementors. He was constantly following Harry around, cast him soft smiles & more than once dared to enter the guest dorms & lie on a bed next to Harry's just 'to talk' so he said. Harry tried to keep the focus on homework subjects as much as possible; though, he rolled his eyes so hard that he nearly saw his brain since Sirius would always arrive with his shirt half open & trying to look as handsome as his arrogant self thought he was. Sirius was more than full of himself & in Harry's opinion, he wouldn't have hooked up with Sirius even if he was actually gay.

One evening, Sirius slowly but surely managed to get Harry's attention off homework & onto the Patronus. They were both lying on the floor in the private study, piles of books & parchments between them. "So when are you going to teach me how to do that?" He finally asked.

"When we have some time," Harry muttered, trying to finish writing his Astronomy essay. Translation: How about on the eve of never-land?

Sirius laid his Transfiguration work aside, then pushed away the piles in front of him, clearing the way to Harry. He moved in closer. "We've got the time now," Sirius began. "I'm done & you're nearly done. I can help you finish that later."

"You can't learn the Patronus in five minutes, Sirius!" Harry groaned.

"All the more reason to get started on it," said Sirius, moving in closer & putting one hand around Harry's neck. "Come on. Leave it. You know you want a break." Harry glared into his eyes & all of a sudden, he felt himself being pulled forward. Sirius was trying to kiss him.

Harry jerked away. "What are you doing?"

"I thought I'd kiss you."

"Well you thought wrong," Harry snarled through gritted teeth, hoping Sirius would get over himself already.

"I thought you wanted to learn how to like us?" Sirius sat up, pouting.

Harry cross rolled his eyes shut. "I'm waiting for the special one. You still have to prove yourself to me."

"Let's go to the guest dorms," Sirius slyly suggested. "I'll prove myself just fine." Harry just glared at him. Sirius suddenly became very serious. "I won't ever hurt you like that, you know. You're safe with me."

"This from the guy who helped beat me to a pulp a while ago."

"Aren't you ever going to forgive me for that?" Sirius begged like the pathetic puppy he was.

"I'm very slow to forgive," Harry muttered. "You just keep trying to prove yourself by behaving! That's what I want from you. Best behaviour or else!"

Sirius laughed. "You really are a girl. You're bossy like one." It was with great effort that Harry didn't kill Sirius right then & there.

Fortunately, Harry was spared further embarrassment by none other than his own father as James had just appeared, looking for Sirius. They shared a glance, then James looked firmly at Sirius. "Ray wants you," he began. "So whenever you're done playing with your new toy would be good."

Harry ground his teeth. Sirius's new toy indeed! Like hell! "Well aren't you just a bundle of love then?" he shot back at James.

In reply, James gave him the finger. Harry hated him. "Oy! That's MY job!" Sirius complained. Harry hated Sirius to.

"Whatever," James didn't care. "Let's go."

"Well," Sirius stood up, passing one hand through Harry's soft wavy hair. "Guess you can finish your essay right now after all, my sweet. See you later." He walked by James who merely rolled his eyes, not really caring, as he followed. Once the pair of them was gone, Harry gave his head a vigorous rub to remove the feeling of Sirius's hand on it.

"I am not sweet!" Harry grumbled, gathering up his things. He wished he was back with Cho. He wished he had his black messy hair again. He wished he could forget ever meeting James in person & go back to envisioning the father that never existed. All he ended up doing was going to bed out of sorts & having little sleep, being frustrated with both Sirius & James & not in 'that' way either.

When the first ray of the pre-dawn came, Harry woke up from a doze still feeling mad. He tried to turn over & go back to sleep but after fifteen minutes, he knew that it wouldn't happen. He got up, grabbed his Cloak & the Map & decided to go down early before breakfast would start. Harry kept the Cloak under his own robes & using the Map, he took the empty lost passageways downward.

Harry was about half way down, on a large wooden platform between stairways, when he saw a dot on the Map appear two flights below him. James Potter was coming up! Harry quickly put his Cloak on & stepped away from the stairs to the far corner. He stood quietly to let James by. Harry watched the dot on the Map coming up higher but he was taking his time. It seemed that the higher up towards Harry he came, James would move ever slower. Harry kept glancing between his Map & the stairs James was now slowly ascending.

James came up into view at last. One step at a time. He would pause & glance everywhere before moving to the next step. Harry noticed that James's wand was out & wondered what else was in this old stair well. James came up another step, looking straight ahead across the platform. He was looking right at Harry. James stopped again & for a moment, he turned a little as if to go back down but ended up not advancing anymore. He stood rooted to the spot, the third last stair up to the platform, as he stared straight at Harry.

Harry had to remind himself he was under cloak right now. James couldn't see him. He tried to breathe very softly, wishing James would just get on with it already. They stared at each other for a long time, then James raised his wand.

"Accio, invisibility cloak!"

Harry's heart sank. He was doomed! He waited for James to punch him again but nothing happened. The cloak didn't move!

"Hmm," James slowly came up another stair. "There is only one Cloak in the world that's impervious to magic & it's mine." Harry jaw dropped. "So you must be using some sort of charm." Confused, Harry just stood there, knowing James couldn't see him even though he was acting like he knew Harry was right there. James came up all the way at last & walked towards Harry, wand raised in one hand while his other clutched a folded up newer piece of parchment, but Harry recognised it all too well.

Harry's heart stopped. How long had they had their own version of that Map? He had never once thought to ask his version of Sirius many years from now when the Map came into being. He had thought nothing of it & with a jolt, he knew the Map would say Harry Potter, not Jason Dursley. Harry thought hard, wondering what to say, how to explain. The game was up now! James cast a hex right at him & Harry barely managed to side-step in time.

"I don't know who you think you are," James began. "but I've got you! There is no Harry Potter in my family! How did you manage to get my name?" Harry didn't answer, still trying to work out what to say. "What do you want then?" James went on. "Money? Is that it? I'm one of the richest families in our world!" He shot another curse at Harry who again barely managed to dodge. "Wait until my father hears of this!" James threatened. "He's an Auror! He'll send you to Azkaban for trying to rob us!"

"It isn't what you think," Harry said.

"Oh is it?" James swung his wand around & ended up pointing it dangerously close to Harry. "What is it then? Too much of a coward to show your face?"

It was too much for Harry, being called a coward. "Stop it! Just stop it Dad!"

James gaped for a moment, "D-Dad?" He laughed. Harry pulled the Cloak down so that it wrapped around his shoulders & only his head appeared. James stopped laughing. "You! I KNEW THERE WAS SOMETHING WRONG WITH YOU!" He raised his wand.

"No stop!" Harry put up his hands, the Cloak slipping off to the floor. In one hand, he held his older version of the Map. "Dad! Wait! Please!"

James stared at Harry's Map, then Harry. "Jason! What are you doing? Stop calling me Dad!"

Harry glared at him. "My name is Harry James Evans Potter."

"Evans?" James was, predictably, suddenly all ears.

"My parents are Lily Evans & James Potter," Harry went on. "There was an accident in the future & I got thrown from my fifth year, to yours. Dumbledore knows. He's trying to recreate the accident on Valentine's Day so I can go home."

"You're from the future?" James stared at him. Harry nodded mutely. "My son?" James scoffed & Harry had a feeling James didn't believe him.

"I'll prove it," Harry began, moving slowly downward to pick up the Cloak. "You just said something about this thing." He held it up. "Look familiar?"

James glared at him, then held up one hand. "Give it here!" Harry tucked it under his arm. "Jason….Harry….whatever the hell your name is, THAT THING IS MINE!"

"You've got your own from your own timeline," Harry said. "You don't need it doubled up."

"Don't say that," James actually looked terrified for a moment. "You have ...don't say that."

"Then there's this," Harry indicated the Map. "You're holding your own there. I didn't know you had it finished by now. Remus gave me this."

"Remus would never betray me!"

"I meant, in my third year, several years in the future," Harry tried to explain. "Remus takes over the Defence Against The Dark Arts class for a year & in the end, he lets me keep this."

"In the future," James echoed.

"Yeah," Harry laughed softly. "It's quite brilliant having another Professor Lupin here. His father for fifth year & then him for my third year. They're both good teachers."

James smiled quickly. "Ray would make a good teacher."

"Everyone liked him & by now most of us wish he was back even though he's a werewolf."

"What?" James was suddenly twice as defensive as before.

"We found out by the end of my third year," Harry shrugged. "Ray told me then about his pack as he referred to you, Sirius & Peter."

"Mm mm," James shook his head, stepping away from Harry. "That ...that can't..." He looked Harry over. "How much do you know?"

"Everything," Harry shrugged. James stood silently apart from breathing hard. Harry noticed his hair moving. "Uh Dad, I think ...your horns are coming out."

"Oh good Merlin!" James turned away towards the wall. He leaned his forehead against it. "You know about that?"

"Yes, of course."

James pressed harder against the wall, trying to regain control of the stag. "So what are you then?" He asked, finally giving in & letting his horns out.

"I'm your son," Harry muttered.

"I mean for the pack," James said. "Your Animagus. What is it?"

"I don't have one."

James glared at him. "How can a son of mine by your age yet not have an Animagus form? I was doing this," He pointed at his horns. "Since late into my fourth year."

"Well I didn't grow up with Remus," Harry said. "I didn't even know he existed until he took the teacher position during my third year & near the end of it, Hermione ...uh she's a friend of mine …figured out his disappearances & told me he was a werewolf."

"Is this Hermione family?"

"No, she's a muggle born."

"Someone not of our family told you what Remus is instead of Remus himself?" James stated incredulously. "Jason, could you not come up with a better story than this?"

"What?" Harry sighed heavily.

"If you really were my son, you'd have known from day one what Remus is," James said. "One of the pack would have told you."

"I didn't grow up with the pack remember?"

"How convenient," James derided.

"I live with Aunt Petunia," Harry tried again.

"Petunia," James gasped. "I know her. She's a bitch."

Harry burst out laughing. "Now I know why she doesn't like you!"

"We met once, on the muggle side of Platform 9 & three fourths," James shrugged. "We exchanged a few words, not very nice ones either."

"I bet Mum was really impressed with you," Harry muttered.

"Who?"

"Lily," Harry said. "Now you know why I'm trying to get close to her but no way in hell like THAT! EW!"

"Oh," James sighed. Then clued in. He was going to have Lily Evans. "OH! Yeah I could see how that would be a problem."

"Just a little one," Harry complained.

"Yet you wasted no time on me," James replied, glaring.

"You were hurting me & I had to distract you & steal your glasses since Sirius smashed mine."

"Those are mine?"

"Yes."

"How the hell did you manage that you idiot?" James stared at his glasses on Harry's face.

"I kept you occupied with other matters, then did some transfiguration magic on these so they wouldn't look the same. Also, I'm not the idiot around here. You are."

"If you are who you say you are then the apples don't fall far from the trees don't forget!" James retorted.

"Whatever," Harry's face fell. He turned away, staring at the pile of his older Cloak on the floor. "I told you. Didn't I tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

Harry turned back to look at him & James noticed tears in the violet eyes. "You & Sirius had no idea what you've done!"

"What?"

"I was beaten to a pulp by my own father AND my godfather in one go!" Harry shot back. "What is wrong with you? Either of you? The very ones who are supposed to protect me instead trod me down for nothing more than a fight over a girl! If Mum knew what you actually did!" Harry turned away again & stooped down to pick up his Cloak.

"I uh," James spoke softly, sounding right behind Harry. "I still don't know about this." Harry turned to glare at him through tears. "I don't think I'd hit my own kid."

"Yeah well, you did!" Harry replied angrily. "More than once."

"But ...but I didn't know!"

"It doesn't change facts," Harry folded his Cloak. "My father beat me up & I have no idea how to get over that." He made as if to head for the downwards stairs.

"If …if what you say is true," James said in a shaking voice. "I'm sorry!" Harry didn't look at him. "Jason I ...I'm only fifteen."

"So am I!"

"I don't have kids yet," James tried again.

"Neither do I but I've never beaten anyone up like you do," Harry turned back to him. "I'd give someone a hex or a verbal threat if they annoy me, but never what you just did."

James slowly reached out & put a hand on Harry's shoulder. "I'm ... I'm sorry."

Harry shook him off. "I don't care anymore. I've learned to hate you & in fact, I don't want you anywhere near Lily. That girl is nothing less than the Queen of England! She's way out of your league & you know it, don't you? You don't deserve her & quite frankly, I don't think you ever will."

"So tell me then," James said. "She must end up liking me since she's your mother. How did we get together?"

"How am I supposed to know?"

"Didn't she or I ever tell you?"

Harry stared at him. "What did I tell you during the Christmas Hogsmeade trip? About Voldemort?"

"You said your par..." James's eyes went wide. "Oh no. Oh you didn't mean it though right? It's just your cover story. Jason! Harry. It's ..."

But Harry was shaking his head. "You're both murdered when I was just one years old. I never knew you! That's why I'm with Petunia."

"That can't be true!" James had both hands over his face.

"Well it is," Harry held out his cloak. "Go on. Look at it. This is yours, only older."

James pulled out his own version & held it up beside Harry's. He gasped & let his fall down. "That isn't possible!"

"Why not?"

James reached for Harry's Cloak & took it. "No wonder Dumbledore wanted to see me when you first showed up. He asked to see my Cloak. This is a very special Cloak, Jason."

"Yeah it's gotten me out of some tight situations."

James raised a brow. "Do you have any idea what this is?"

"An Invisi—"

"No!" James interrupted. "Those things fade after about five years. But this? It's over a thousand years old." Harry gasped at that. "There's only one like it & it belongs in our family."

Harry glanced down at the floor, seeing James's cloak. "Well, looks like there's two at the moment."

"That should never happen," James wrapped Harry's Cloak over Harry's shoulders. "That isn't an Invisibility Cloak." He stepped back, surveying Harry's floating head. "It's the Death Cloak." They stared at each other, then James suddenly yelped & clapped both hands over his mouth. "Oh Merlin! It's true!"

"What & what?" Harry stared at him.

"What I just told you," James said. "Only our direct line can openly speak about it to each other. Parent & child. No one else. Others have legends about it but if they ask me anything, I can't say unless they are directly related to me. I just freely told you what that thing is. You're either my father or my son. You can't be anyone else or the spell would have bound my tongue."

"Grandpa said that now isn't the time to use the cover of Death. He was referring to this?"

"Grandpa?"

"I met your parents when they came over Christmas," Harry said. "By the way, they want to wipe the memory from you, Sirius & Peter for knowing Ray's a werewolf, so watch out."

"Thanks for telling me," James sighed. "No wonder Professor Lupin's so upset. If only he could know what we actually do for his son."

"No one can know that," Harry said. "What does this have to do with Death anyway?" He indicated their Cloaks on the floor.

"Our ancestors met Death itself, but through a very clever trick, your direct great grandfather of a thousand years ago managed to get the Cloak," James explained, seeming to be more & more surprised at each word. "It will never fade & never be taken from you with magic. That's why it didn't move when I tried to summon your covering to my hand."

"Will it kill me?" Harry exclaimed.

"No it's harmless," James said. "Just more useful than a regular Invisibility Cloak." He looked Harry over. "This is...really weird."

"It's me Dad," Harry said.

"I'm your ...father then?"

"I don't know," Harry replied.

"What do you mean you don't know?"

Harry glared at him. "This is the only chance we had to meet & you blew it! You ruined everything. You're arrogant! Vile! Show off! You're learning to be an Auror for Merlin's sake! Grow the hell up!" James remained silent (for once), so Harry continued. "Before I go, I'll be making arrangements with Dumbledore to try to save my family. I hope my mother at least pulls through. She's brilliant & I can understand why you like her. What I don't get is why she ends up liking you."

"I'm just a kid right now!" James finally snapped.

"SO AM I!" Harry shouted. "And guess what? From when I come from, there is a lovely girl on the Ravenclaw team & I never once had to beat anyone up for her!"

"You're gay."

"I am not!" Harry said. "I just told Lily that so I wouldn't get stuck with my mother for my girlfriend. Besides, it helped to get you off my case!"

"But you're dating Sirius!" 

"Sirius Black, just like Lily, is a parent to me. My Godfather!"

"But you agreed to go out with him on Valentine's."

"I was blowing him off," said Harry. "I'm going home on Valentine's so who cares what I told him? I'm not gay! Never have been. Never will be."

"Right," James huffed. "If you really are my son, then please know at least that I'd be happy with whoever you ended up loving. I wouldn't care if you turned up gay."

"Thanks," Harry managed a fleeting smile. "But I honestly prefer girls."

"Ok," James sighed, then smiled. "Just not Lily."

"Definitely not Lily! That's just wrong on so many levels."

"I appreciate your predicament," James laughed.

"Shut up!" Harry ordered, but James just laughed harder. "You idiot!"

They shared a short look, then Harry headed for the stairs again. "Is there nothing I can do?" James asked.

Harry paused on the second stair. "I don't know. We have so little time left."

James moved closer. "Then ... then let's not waste it."

Harry gazed up at him. "There is one thing you can do for starters."

"What?" James asked, looking worried.

Harry came back up to the platform. "I've seen Padfoot, Wormtail & unfortunately Moony one night all at once."

"You saw Moony but don't know Animagic?" James exclaimed.

"Right out there in front of the Whomping Willow," said Harry. "Padfoot drove him away before he hurt anyone. Don't worry."

"I hope not," said James. "So you want me to start teaching you Animagic then?"

"If we have time from when I come from," said Harry. "Right now, I've ...I've never seen the real Prongs. Just my Patronus emulates you."

"I knew that thing was Prongs!" James sighed heavily.

"I'd like to see Prongs," Harry said. "I never met him."

James stepped back & at last, Harry saw the real great stag. Prongs was so large he nearly filled the whole platform. He was an Elk, with a thick curly neck & large, sharp hooves. A piercing whistle blasted through the forgotten passage, bouncing off the walls. Harry slammed his hands over his ears. Once the sound died away, Harry reached out to touch the curly fur all down Prongs's throat. Prongs moved swiftly, catching Harry under his chin. He pressed down, holding Harry close.

Harry continued to stroke the fur. "I thought I'd never see you Prongs," He sighed. The weight of the stag's head disappeared, only to be replaced by James holding him.

"What a mess," James muttered.

"You believe me now?" Harry asked. "You can go to Dumbledore with this. He knows everything to. Well not about Prongs or whatever. Just my timely mishap, I mean."

"Our discussion about the Death Cloak is what convinced me," said James, pulling away from Harry. "But there's still a few things I don't understand." He looked Harry up & down. "Why don't you look like a Potter?"

"Oh, it's a glamour," Harry began. "Dumbledore helped me fix things so I wouldn't draw attention. But he showed me a quick way to reveal myself for a moment." Harry performed the charm on himself.

James stared at him. "Wow! I have no idea why!" He exclaimed sarcastically. He put a hand under Harry's chin, looking him over. "Almost exactly like me, but I'd know those eyes anywhere."

"Most people do," said Harry, replacing his glamours.

"Alright another thing," James went on. "You said you're with Petunia?"

"For the past fourteen years," said Harry.

"Where the hell was Sirius?" James demanded. "Or ... or did he get killed to?"

"No," Harry said slowly. He stared at his father long & hard. "Sirius got blamed for your murder."

"WHAT?"

"He's innocent but he ended up in Azkaban."

"Azkaban?" James gasped weakly, sinking down onto the first stair leading up to the next level. "Not him! He would never!"

"That's why I was so mad at both of you for going to see those stupid Dementors," Harry went on. "Sirius spent some time with the entire swarm for something he never did. But he used Padfoot to escape & he's been on the run ever since." By now, James was sitting on the stairs, crying hard into his hands. "Now you understand why I got so mad at you two? What I was actually afraid of? Not fear for me but for him! Going near those things!"

"It's a good thing Ray taught you that charm Harry!" James gasped between tears. "Harry, we can't let that happen. Not to Sirius! He doesn't deserve that!"

"Dumbledore & I are working on it," said Harry.

James sniffled, trying to collect himself. He had both hands over his face. "Oh! Merlin! Why? How could anyone let that happen to him? Harry, don't tell him that! It would kill him right now. Don't ever mention that in front of him."

"I won't & with Dumbledore's help it shouldn't happen this time," said Harry.

James got up & punched the wall. "If I ever find out who did that to him! Do you know?"

Harry shrugged. "I told Dumbledore what I could. He should be able to figure it out."

"Harold James!" James gave him a sharp look. His eyes glistened a little & Harry could see the stag was very near the surface. "Do you know?"

"No," Harry lied but had no choice in the matter. He had to keep the timeline as pure as possible. "But Dumbledore will figure it out."

"I hope so," James said. He looked up the stairs as if dreading to go up & face the others.

"I'll see you at breakfast," Harry started down the stairs. "By the way, Grandma makes good cookies."

James stared down the stair well until Harry went around the corner out of sight. After a few minutes, he headed up towards the common room. Once inside, he looked around the place. It was still empty as most people were still in bed. He had been out all night running as the Stag. Mostly, he had been thinking about Jason Dursley, trying to figure him out. He had never expected this. His son. Here.

James collapsed into the couch & stared at the embers in the fireplace. Both he & Lily were murdered by Voldemort? He wondered when. How long from now until Harry was born? Was it fifteen years from now? Or two? Strangely, the thing that was upsetting him the most at the moment though, was Sirius ...in Azkaban ...for nothing. James leaned forward to put his face in his hands.


	9. Chapter 9

**(9) A Day Of Secrets**

James didn't know how long he stayed like that. He was oblivious to everything else as he replayed his encounter with Jason …Harry... over & over again in his mind. Sirius had to poke him rather hard in the ribs to get him to respond. James looked up at him, standing there, clutching a large rat in his hand. Remus stood close behind him.

"Are you alright Prongs?"

James sighed, leaning back. Looking up at Sirius again, he said, "We did something ...terrible."

"So?" Sirius shrugged. "We're Marauders. We like it bad."

"Not this bad," said James.

"Aww it can't be that bad," Sirius muttered.

Hearing others come down the stairs, James stood up. "Not here." He led the way to the side door leading into the private study. He let them enter first. James cast one last glance at the common room, only to lock eyes with Lily Evans. She turned up her nose, glaring back defiantly. James turned away from her & went inside the study. The door closed behind him & he pointed ahead, indicating that they should all go to the farthest corner. He suddenly went back out to the common room.

Lily was sitting on a chair, skimming through some notes. James moved towards her. "Um Miss Evans. I –"

"I'm not going out with you so you can kindly piss off." Lily turned her chair so that her back was towards him.

James half smiled. Oh she would go out with him. He knew it now. But how to win her heart? "I'm not here for that. I ... uh, I ..." He stopped, watching the back of her head. He could hear a quill scratching as she wrote something, completely ignoring him. "I need help." His voice came out weak & cracked. The full damage he had done, hitting his own son, was finally sinking in.

"Oh really? What about?" Lily sneered, still writing & not paying attention to him.

"Oh ..." James tried to speak but he felt that he was on the verge of tears. "Just ... I …" He stared down the hall, thinking that perhaps he should leave her behind, not just for the moment but for ever. Maybe she wouldn't get killed. But then Harry wouldn't exist. But Harry hates him. That was it. The words Harry shot at him had now only just sunk in. Vile. Cruel. Everything his son hates. His own son hated him & worse, James guiltily knew he deserved every last accusation.

"Potter!" Lily had somehow gotten to her feet without him knowing. She was staring right at him with those same eyes Harry had sans glamours. "What? What's wrong?"

"Everything," James felt tears fall. He wiped them away. "Can you come?" Lily nodded & followed him into the study.

"What is SHE doing here?" Sirius demanded the moment James & Lily joined the others.

"Not now Sirius!" James shot him a glare that said shut up or die. "This involves her." Sirius huffed, fussed, grumbled under breath, but finally sat down on a cushion next to Remus without further ado.

The rat disappeared under the chair while Lily & Sirius had cast a glare at each other. By now, Peter was standing behind it. "Sorry," Peter held up his wand. "Dropped it back here." Lily accepted the explanation of his sudden appearance behind the chair as she made herself comfortable on another soft arm chair, away from Sirius.

"Right, now that we're all here," James began. "I put a block on the door. No one else can get in right now."

"What's this about Jim?" Remus asked.

James hesitated before launching into an explanation. The only thing he left out was the Death Cloak being what it was & Sirius being in Azkaban. James glanced around their faces, each showing various degrees of shock, amusement & disbelief. James finally broke the silence by adding, "So, Sirius. You have to break up with him, or he with you."

"Why?"

"Sirius! Haven't you been listening?" James groaned through gritted teeth. "From his point of view, all of us are twice his age. You're his Godfather for Merlin's sake!"

"Like I believe this yet," Sirius laughed. "What proof do you have?"

James couldn't explain the Death Cloak, not even to Sirius, but he had another piece of evidence. He glanced at Lily. "It's uh, it's something we've put together. Remus's idea mostly." He pulled out the Map. "I solemnly swear I'm up to no good."

"NO!" Sirius shot to his feet. "Not in front of her!"

James lowered both hands, looking at Sirius. "If you have another idea, please enlighten us?" He waited a moment while Sirius looked more & more like a goldfish instead of a dog. When no other idea came, James went on. "Lily. This is our Map of Hogwarts." He handed it over to her. "Look at the Great Hall."

After a few minutes of staring in surprise, Lily finally saw the dot. "It says Harry Potter."

"WHAT? WHERE?" Remus yelped, coming over to snatch his precious Map out of her hands. After seeing it for himself, he let Sirius & Peter look it over.

Lily started laughing & clapping. "I have to admit, this was rather brilliant. But it won't work Potter. I'm not going out with you. Nice trick. Good luck with the girls. I'm sure some lame whore would be happy to lie on her back for you." She got up to leave.

"Evans!" James gasped. "This isn't about that! This is real!"

"It's a nice charm," Lily waved her hand at the Map. "I do appreciate the trouble you went through to try your 'charm' on me yet again. I really do. Not bad. But not enough."

"Don't you understand we'll get killed by Voldemort if we're not careful?" James shot at her. Remus, Sirius & Peter pulled away, being overly engrossed in their Map. James & Lily were at it again.

"Ohh I can hardly wait," Lily derided. "Good job, Potter. I actually loved it. Nice touch with the tears & all that earlier to. But I'm done." She pushed past him.

But for the first time in his life, James laid hold of her & dragged her back. "Sit down!" He commanded sharply.

"Excuse me?"

"Sit down right now!"

"Let me go!"

"Miss Evans!" James began.

"I said let go!" Lily swung her free arm & slapped James so hard, he staggered backwards away from her. His new glasses twisted sideways.

"If you ever touch me again Potter!" Lily shrieked at him. "I'll kill you! That was going too far! How DARE you?"

"Evans I meant no harm!" James defended, hating the fact that maybe his son was right about him after all. "But you need to stay. It's true! Jason is Harry. He's our son from the future."

"You're just saying that to get into my bed!" Lily shot back. Then she sent a glare at the others who had been gaping in horror, Map hanging limply from Remus's hands. "And you three! Helping him in this? Trying to coerce me to let him come near me? That's akin to gang rape! Remus! Out of all of you! How could you go along with this?"

"Hey I didn't know!" Remus defended. "None of us did!"

"Evans, you're taking this the wrong way!"

"The wrong way?" Lily said dangerously low under breath. "You've been harassing me since day one. You never manage to get near me. So now you're resorting to an elaborate story just to try to get me to like you, using your three friends to help! How could y—"

"I LOVE YOU LILY!" James shot out vehemently.

Remus dropped the Map as Sirius & Peter turned away & tried to sit in the same arm chair at the same time. Lily glared at James who had suddenly gone pale. He had never blurted out anything so stupid like that before. He suddenly clapped both hands over his mouth.

"What?" Lily continued to glare at him.

James stepped backwards until he connected with a book shelf & could go no further. "Sorry."

"Sorry?"

"Yes sorry!"

"About what?"

"I—" James blinked. "I ...wait. Um I forgot."

"WHAT?"

The arm chair was getting crowded as now Remus sat over top of the other two. Sirius whispered in his ear, "Could someone please go over there & help the poor man?"

"After you," Remus whispered back.

"I don't think we are supposed to be seeing this," Peter shook his head.

"Nothing we can do about it," Remus replied.

James pushed himself away from the shelf. "Look Eva...Li..." He tried using her first name to her face for the second time in his life. "I am a guy ok? A guy who's crazy about this girl & can't understand why she hates him all the time. Guys do stupid things when they're around girls they lo...like. So give me a break! Stop being mean to me! GROW UP!"

CRACK! Lily punched him square on the nose. James staggered backwards to the shelf once more, clutching his face.

Remus swore in French & had both hands over his mouth.

"He's going to die," Sirius said.

"I'll grow up when you grow up Potter!" Lily seethed.

"Alright, fine!" James mumbled. After rubbing his nose to make sure it wasn't broken, he crossed his arms, glaring. "I agree."

"You do?"

"Sweet Lord have mercy!" Peter gasped. "They're agreeing!"

"Yeah that's never happened before," Remus actually looked scared.

"Yes," James said. "Harry said some rather nasty things to me & coming from my own son, it made me wake up a bit."

"Would you stop with that stupid story already?"

"Both he & Dumbledore can back me up," James said. "Go ask them. Then come back here."

Lily shot a look at the three on the chair. "Do any of you believe this?"

"Lily," Remus answered. "You know me. I would never lure a woman into danger. We didn't bring you here for that. We didn't know what James wanted, but he would never do that. He may be a bit stupid ('Hey!' James whined.) but we are all safe with him! As for Harry, yes. He's on the Map. There can be no other explanation."

"He must have put him there," Lily pointed accusingly at James.

"The Map is MINE! Lily," Remus nearly growled. "It's my invention. My work. My magic. The Map NEVER lies & no one can add fake names to it, burn it or drown it. I made sure of that. I'm rather ...protective of my things." They shared a look before Remus went on. "Jason Dursley would never ever show up on this Map. He does not exist! But Harry Potter does, strange as it is."

"You can go to Dumbledore by yourself," Sirius added. "We don't need him to know. Just that," he pointed to the floor. "Remus's invention. We know how it works & what it can & can not do. Like it or not, Harry Potter is sitting at breakfast."

"Go right ahead & indulge yourself," Peter said. "We can wait."

Lily shot a dark glare first at Sirius, then Peter, then looked back at Remus. Out of the whole gang, Remus had always been her friend. "Ray, can you tell me beyond a shadow of a doubt, that this is real?"

"Yes," Remus said without hesitation. He got off the chair. "I wish it wasn't, but it is. Do you have any idea what I'm feeling right now?"

"You?" James & Lily said at the same time.

"Even though you two can't get along ...yet…you're both friends of mine," said Remus. "Jim said Voldemort kills you both. I can't handle that!" He was suddenly crying, alarming James. Remus never cried outside of lunar shifts. "That cut me to the core. Jim, you said Harry & Dumbledore will have a plan to save you?"

"They're working on it," James said.

"I can not live if you must die," Remus fell to his knees, bowing his head. He was seeing gold. Both Sirius & Peter hurried to his side.

Sirius pulled Remus into his arms. "Your eyes." He murmured so Lily won't hear. "Careful!"

"Dumbledore is working on it," said James. "We'll make it."

Sirius shared a look with Peter. "I'm going to take Remus down to breakfast," He made up an excuse. Remus avoided looking at Lily as Sirius led him out. Peter snatched up their Map & followed after.

The door clicked, leaving James & Lily alone at last. "He's quite sensitive," James said. "Ray takes everything to heart."

"He's a good man," said Lily. She raised a brow at James. "Better than you."

"Yeah well," James spread his hands, smiling sheepishly.

"Why do you hang out with them though?" Lily asked. "None of you are a good influence on each other."

James sat in the arm chair. "Some things I can't tell you. But the four of us need each other & we guard ...uh ... someone. One of us needs protection. I can't tell you who or why so please don't ask."

"Potter, if you ever expect me to even think of you as a friend," Lily began. "You can't keep acting up the way you do. Are you in trouble or one of them?"

"One of them."

Lily stared at him. "I can't get involved with someone who might have something that will come back to bite him."

James burst out laughing. "You have no idea." He laughed harder. When he finally got a hold of himself, he went on. "It's nothing bad like what you're probably thinking. Nothing to do with Voldemort. But I can't tell you."

"Then," Lily hesitated before going on. "I can't have anything to do with you."

James looked up, horrified. "What?"

"I don't know what you're involved with," Lily said.

"It's fine, it's ok," James said desperately.

"How should I know?" Lily asked. "The way you four sneak around. Always secret. Always afraid of being found out...& that Map!"

"What about it?" James snapped.

"The way it shows Hog—"

"Stop! Stop right there!" James shot to his feet. "I hate this. I hate fighting with you. I hate everything about this so much!" Fists balled by his hips, he turned away. "Why do we fight Lily? We're not together, not even friends. We shouldn't have anything to fight about but we're constantly at each other's throats."

"I don't know," said Lily. "There's nothing about you I like."

"Then talk to me," James gasped in a shaky breath. "What don't you like? I'll work on it. Lily I'd give you the moon if I could."

"Whenever I do talk to you, all you do is 'Oh I can't say!' or 'Oh no. That's a secret. Don't ask me!" Lily said. "Nothing but secrets & lies. I don't like you because I don't know you, but who's fault is that? What's wrong? What are you hiding? Why are all four of you constantly disappearing? Up to no good?"

"One of us is really sick," James answered. "That's all it is."

"Remus said he gets sick a lot," Lily said. James went very still, wondering how much Remus mentioned. "But originally it was his mother."

"It's genetic," James lied.

"I see," sighed Lily. "Ray said once that it's long term illness."

"Yeah," James nodded. "No cure."

"Is it …"

"Is it what?"

Lily wrung her hands for a moment. "Is it ... terminal?"

James looked long & hard at her. "Yes."

Lily gasped, both hands on her mouth. "No! It can't! How long?"

"Oh several years," said James. "A long time but, not long enough by wizard standards."

"I can't even think what Professor Lupin must be going through," said Lily. "Do you think Ray will live long enough to out live him at least?"

"Nope."

"James!" Lily cried out. She sat down, shaking. After several minutes of silence, Lily said. "But that still doesn't explain why you four are always sneaking around. I get that Remus probably doesn't want to talk about it, but ultimately this being just an illness doesn't quite fit."

James rubbed his temples. Perceptive girl, driving him crazy! "There is stuff going on, but nothing for you to worry about."

Lily sighed. "So after our first normal conversation, I still don't know a thing about you."

James smiled. "We did have a normal conversation, didn't we?"

"Yeah," Lily agreed. "But it didn't change anything, did it?"

"I don't know," said James. "Would you be willing to put this conversation on hold for a bit?"

"Like continue it later?"

"Let me talk to them," said James. "I'll see about letting you in."

"Letting me in?"

"Lily, please," James begged. "Please wait a bit."

Lily watched him for a moment & then for the first time, she gave in. "Alright." She stood up. "Alright, I'll wait a bit."

"Thanks!" James actually breathed. "First things first, let's go to breakfast."

"I'll see you down there," said Lily. "I'm supposed to wait for Alice."

"Ok, see you there," James turned & left. Once the door clicked softly behind him, he suddenly bounced so high off the floor he nearly cracked his head on the arch way. Lily was finally speaking to him! With a big stupid grin, James headed down to the Great Hall.

Lily returned to the common room & sat on one arm chair by the fire to wait for Alice. She didn't know what to think. She was going to have a son with that horrible James Potter? How could that be true? It isn't, said one voice. It is, said another. Feeling more confused than ever before in her life, Lily was so lost in thought about what James had told them that she didn't notice Remus standing in front of her. She looked up at him at last, noticing he looked rather tired ... again.

"You ok?" Remus asked.

Lily shrugged. "I don't really know what to think. I thought you went to breakfast with Sirius?"

"In a minute," Remus shrugged. He knelt on the floor beside the chair, looking up at her. Lily could see the scars on his face quite clearly & wondered, not for the first time, how they got there. "It's quite a mess."

"I can't believe it," Lily said.

"Well, ask Dumbledore I guess."

"I mean about something else," Lily went on. "After you all left. James explained to me about ...um ..." She looked helplessly into a dying young man's eyes. "Ray, I hope they find a cure for you soon."

Remus blinked like an owl. He stood up slowly, shaking his head. "No, he w-wouldn't...how could he betray me?" He said more to himself than to her.

"Who?" Lily was surprised at his reaction. "I'm sorry Ray. He told me everything about your illness. I'll help. We'll find a cure."

"Thank you," Remus gasped.

"Don't thank me yet," said Lily. "I haven't worked on a cure yet."

"I mean about accepting me," Remus went on. "Even though I'm a werewolf."

Lily's green eyes snapped up to his partly amber ones. They shared a long look & Remus suddenly understood. James didn't betray him at all. But he, Remus, had just exposed himself. Remus took a step back. Lily breathed in very slowly & then just as slowly let it out. "He didn't say THAT!"

Remus clapped both hands over his mouth, shaking his head. Actually he seemed to be shaking from head to foot. "No NO! Oh no!" He burst into tears & fled the scene.

"Ray? Remus wait!" Lily tried to run after him.

Breakfast was well under way when Alice appeared in the hall, alone. She had to go past James & Peter to get to Frank & paused to ask, "Have any of you seen Lily?"

"No," James answered. "Have you seen Remus?"

"Nope," Alice shook her head & sat down next to Frank.

James & Peter looked across the table at Harry & Sirius. "What about you?"

Sirius shook his head as Harry muttered under breath, "Why am I not surprised Lily didn't show up?" He caught James's eye. James just scowled & shook his head. He had yet to tell Harry that he had not only told the entire pack but also Lily as well, so all Harry knew was that Lily still liked James as much as Harry did. "Though I am surprised Remus isn't here yet," Harry lowered his voice so only James, Peter & Sirius could understand. "He eats like a wolf." His mouth twitched, then he sent another glare at James.

James leaned forward. "You & I need to have another little talk."

Harry also leaned forward & barely moved his lips so only James could get it. "What's the matter? Old man mad at me?"

"BOY I OUGHTTA!" James yelped as Harry sat back, laughing so hard, he disturbed people at other tables. James put both hands in his hair as if clutching at antler points desperately trying to break through. "Ohh I could just kill you!" He glared into his plate, scoffing 'old man' under breath.

"James! James!" Lily came running down the aisle & stood behind him. It was quite clear something was wrong. She had been crying & she was looking wildly about.

James stood up. "What's wrong?"

"It's ... It's Remus!" Lily gasped.

Sirius & Peter both threw their forks down & jumped up. "Got to go, Jason." Sirius patted Harry's hair.

"Take me to him," James made as if to move.

"I can't!" Lily wailed. "I don't know where he is."

"Well what happened?"

Lily glanced around. "Not in front of them." She turned & headed for the doors.

Despite that, Sirius & Peter were right behind James, who suddenly turned back. "Hey Jason. You coming?"

"You want me along?" Harry stared at him.

James lifted his hands in defence. "We gotta start somewhere. Come on." Harry got up to follow.

They found Lily in a small unused classroom just a few doors down. Lily glared. "It was supposed to be just you."

James waved it away with one hand. "If it's about Remus, we're all involved."

Lily stared at the others, cast a long look at Harry, then she grabbed James & pulled him close. In a low voice she said, "I told Remus you & I had a bit of a talk. He ended up saying that ... that ..." She looked around, then leaned closer to James. "Werewolf."

James gasped sharply & pushed her away. He glared at her. "No you ... you shouldn't know that." They stared each other down, then James turned to the other three. "Lily knows about Remus."

"What? WHAT?" Sirius was horrified, shooting a venomous glare at Lily. "HOW?!"

"He told her," James said. "Accidently."

Sirius advanced on Lily. "If something happens to him, I'll make you wish you've never been born!"

"You keep away from me Black!" Lily's glare was equally hateful. They both pulled wands.

Harry flattened himself against the wall & watched, horrified, as the only family he had were suddenly fighting against each other. It was unclear who was on who's side; though, it was clear that Sirius & Lily were trying nothing short of killing each other. It ended with Sirius having yet another bad stinging hex on his behind, Peter knocked out & James suffering five deep cuts on his left side.

But that wasn't the only thing. What stopped the fight was the fact that the entire rack of Prongs had sprung up. Sirius was glancing between James & Lily. Harry slowly moved to Peter's side where he could see his mother better. Lily had dropped her wand & staring in terror at James's head. James stood silently, looking at the floor, his wand hand hanging loose by his good side; while from his left side was flowing a river of red, making a crimson pool on the floor. Lily's breasts were heaving as she slowly stepped away from James. Peter moaned at Harry's feet, opening his eyes. He saw the antlers & sat bolt right up.

"What ... what happened to you?" Lily finally managed to say. "James. What is that on your head?"

"Lily please! I'm unregistered. I'm still learning," James looked from her to Sirius. "I'm so sorry! I don't have full control yet. I'm sorry!"

"Nothing we can do now, Prongs," Sirius said.

"I'm so glad we're not at breakfast right now," said Peter, looking at the horns. James managed a weak laugh.

"What is going on?" Lily demanded. "More secrets? More lies? How do you ever expect me to even like you if you keep this—oh my God!" James had rolled his eyes & then switched to Prongs. Lily stepped back so fast she hit the wall. The stag hung his head, unable to look at Lily.

Sirius glanced at Peter. "Might as well." He walked past the stag towards Lily. Stopping in front of her he said, "Hi Evans. I'm Padfoot." Lily shrieked as Sirius changed to the Grim.

"I'm Wormtail," said Peter & Harry looked down to see Scabbers.

Harry looked up at Lily. "They're doing it for Remus. Please don't tell anyone."

Lily stood straight. She looked over the animals again, then back at Harry. "I ... I know who you are ... Harry." She hesitated before adding. "James told us all today. Remus to."

"DAD!" Harry aimed a kick at the stag. "You stupid idiot!"

Lily actually laughed. "You tell him!" The stag just grunted.

"How did you ever end up with that loser anyway?" Harry muttered.

"I don't know," Lily complained. "Maybe it'll seem like a good idea at the time." The stag grunted again, but was ignored.

Harry stepped over the rat & pushed the Grim aside to make his way to Lily. "So Remus told you then?"

"He didn't mean to," said Lily, explaining the conversation.

"I can see why it happened," said Harry. "When he was teaching during my third year, one of my friends figured him out. We all still liked him ... but he left."

"Ray is rather sensitive," Lily said as the stag grunted again. "Shut up. You're the one wh—James!"

There was a loud crash as the great stag collapsed. Harry suddenly understood why the stag was grunting. Prongs had been trying to stay on his hooves even though he was weak from blood loss. Sirius & Peter both switched back & ran to Prongs just as James re-appeared on the floor, passed out, lying in a pool of red. Harry hoped the timeline wasn't so messed up that James would die prematurely. If James died now, Harry would evaporate into thin air, never to exist.


	10. Chapter 10

**(10) Back To The Future**

Sirius, Peter, Lily & Harry all sat clustered around James who was lying asleep in bed. Madam Pomfrey had patched him up & he would stay for most of the day while she monitored him. They hardly spoke to each other, each lost in their own thoughts. Harry stayed closer to Lily than any of the others but both were staring in opposite directions.

Madam Pomfrey had to shoo everyone out when lunch time came. Startled at the time, Sirius & Lily both worried they had missed half their classes. Harry reminded them it was Sunday & there were no classes. As the others slowly made their way to the Great Hall, Harry turned to the outer doors leading into the grounds.

Sirius ended up beside him. "Where are you going?"

"I think Remus would be in the Shrieking Shack," Harry said.

"Oh no!" Sirius gasped. "It's been hours since breakfast. I didn't think of him!"

"James had bigger problems," Harry shrugged. "I'll get Remus."

"Jas ...or, what should I call you?"

"Jason, so the timeline doesn't get even more screwed up," Harry opened the door to go out. "Although by now, I don't think it matters any more."

"I'll come with you Jason," Sirius began as they headed across the grounds. "Remus might be a bit ...unfriendly at the moment."

"I know what he is," Harry muttered irritably. "By the way, I'm not going with you on Valentine's or any other time. Since you know who I am now, you're my Godfather ...so…ew!"

"Stranger things have happened," Sirius winked at him.

"Do you want to go to Azkaban?"

"No."

"Then get off my case!"

"Gees, fine." Sirius stuck his hands in his pockets & said no more. He sulked along until they got to the Whomping Willow. "We have to pro—"

"I KNOW!" Harry finally lost it. Sirius shut up once more as Harry grabbed the nearest long stick & whacked the knot.

They descended into the tunnel & headed to the Shack in silence. Harry led the way. When he got to the other end, he cautiously opened up the trap door & peered out. The place seemed empty so Harry climbed up all the way & helped Sirius through. Sirius switched to Padfoot & sat on his tail, waiting for Harry to lead the way. They slowly went up stairs side by side, Padfoot ready to bound out & attack if Remus was in a mood.

Remus was lying on the bed, back towards the door but he heard the boards creak as they entered. Remus lifted his head to glare amber over his shoulder. He hissed. Harry stopped walking as Padfoot moved in front of him protectively. Remus half heartedly hissed again, then lowered his head back to the pillow, ignoring them.

"Easy Moony," Harry slowly moved forward again, keeping Padfoot between them. Irritated, Remus shifted a little on the bed. They heard a low growl under breath. "Moony ...it's ok. She's fine with it." He moved to the foot of the bed. "Did you hear me? Lily's ok wi—ARGH!"

Harry had put a hand on the edge of the foot of the bed. Like a rabid wolf, Remus had turned himself around, barking & snapping viciously. Harry had pulled his hand back just in time. Padfoot jumped on the bed, pouncing on Remus & both fell over the edge on the opposite side. Remus hissed like a wildcat, making Padfoot growl at him. Harry could no longer see either of them, but heard their growls just fine. He waited by the door for Remus to calm down.

Padfoot's growl was lower than Remus, more calm than angry. Remus just growled since he was in a bad mood & they vocalised back & forth between each other for several moments. Harry seemed to be forgotten. Finally Harry said, "Moony, I'm going to tell Dad what you almost did if you don't shut the hell up!" There was a snort ...silence. Padfoot's head appeared as he looked across the bed at Harry, who crossed his arms. "Getting irritating. Snap out of it, moon mutt. You're in human form right now." Padfoot gaped at him.

Padfoot suddenly tumbled across the floor & hit the opposite wall. Remus had thrown him off in the distraction. He stood up, shooting his amber glare at Harry. "If you really are Jim's kid, then you're a pup born into this pack."

"That's right."

"So mind your Alpha," Remus snapped.

"Make me!" Harry sassed. Padfoot shook his head wildly. Remus launched himself for Harry. "Expecto Patronum." A great stag began bounding around the room, looking for Dementors. It huffed silver mist at Remus as if offended that he was a wolf, not a Dementor.

Remus stared at the thing. "That really does look like Prongs."

"You teach it to me, during my third year," Harry explained. Then he thought of something. If things worked out, there would be no Dementors & therefore, no reason to learn the charm. In turn, that meant that he & his cousin would be destroyed during the summer before he started his fifth year. "Remus, make sure you teach about Dementors in your first class. My boggart becomes a Dementor & you teach me this. Be sure you do!"

"Why?" Remus muttered.

"Ray it is imperative I learn this charm when you come to Hogwarts!"

"If what you say is true, that's years from now!" Remus huffed. "How am I supposed to remember?"

Harry dismissed the stag & moved to the bed to sit down. "I'll leave notes with you & Dumbledore before I shift back. Ray, if you forget, I'm worse then dead. My cousin to!"

"Let's hope I don't forget then," Remus growled low under breath.

"Will you relax now?"

Remus glared at him but Harry could see the dark green, darker than even Lily's, seep through the gold. Remus hung his head. "Sorry."

"Don't mention it," Harry sighed.

"I was really upset," Remus explained. "But I wish I didn't try to attack you earlier."

"You get better," said Harry. "Don't worry. You're going to teach here some day, during my third year. You do so much better." Remus managed a short smile. "You're just a puppy right now," Harry went on. Remus scowled & looked down again as Sirius appeared & sat next to Harry.

"How's Lily?" Remus asked the floor, ashamed to look at anyone.

Sirius & Harry shared a look, then launched into an explanation of what had recently happened. By the end, Remus was sitting cross-legged on the floor, head in hands. "Jim's alright," Sirius finished. "Pomfrey fixed him up. He's resting now."

"This entire mess is my fault," Remus whimpered, sounding puppy-like.

"No," said Sirius. "It's Lily's."

"What?" Harry was suddenly defensive.

"Nosey brat," Sirius went on. "She'd have figured us all out someday anyway. Might as well get it over with."

"Why do you hate my mother Sirius?"

"She hates me," Sirius defended.

"What's going on between you then?" Harry tried a different tactic.

"Look, Jason," Sirius rolled his eyes. "Some people just naturally don't like each other. Look at Jim & Snivellus & I. We hate him, but Jim & I are forever. It's just the way it is."

"You better start being nice to my mother, or I'll remove you from the picture," Harry glared.

"How so?" Sirius laughed.

"I have knowledge of the future that our Divination Professor would sell their soul to have," Harry replied. "So don't test me."

"You know, you're more like your mother than Jim," Sirius scowled.

"Good," Harry returned evenly.

"So, what do you look like?" Remus asked before the pair could hex each other. "Jim mentioned something about glamours?"

"Oh right," Harry stood up & exposed himself.

"Whoa!" Sirius jumped from the bed & hurried to Remus's side. "Wow, you're a lot like Jim!"

"Not the eyes," Remus smiled softly.

"No wonder he's such a brat," Sirius scoffed. "Combining Black-Potter blood with that of Evans." Harry glared at them as they laughed.

"Oh that is EXACTLY how Lily glares," Remus added.

Harry replaced his glamours. "I hate you both!" They just laughed harder.

Remus eventually led the way back to the castle. He headed straight for the hospital wing to see James, only to end up facing Lily. They stared at each other: Remus unsure if she wanted him around or not despite Harry & Sirius telling him otherwise; while Lily just watched him for a moment, then smiled softly. Remus moved closer & sat down at the foot of the bed.

"Hi there," Lily said.

"Hi," Remus was again talking to the floor.

"I knew something was going on," Lily went on. "You honestly don't surprise me. Being a werewolf really explains a lot."

"Y-Yeah?" Remus laughed nervously.

"It's those three idiots you call a pack," Lily went on. "When the horns of Prongs came out, I nearly fainted."

Remus cast a fleeting glance at James. "They are idiots, aren't they?" He laughed again. "I was bitten when I was almost five. I used to spend those nights alone. I'd tear up the den. Tear myself up. More than once, I nearly killed myself & once I even got out. I could kill an entire town if that happened again. But then these guys figured me out & learned Animagic at great risk to themselves. If they're ever caught, they go to Azkaban & I'll probably be put down. But when I'm with them, I don't hurt myself as much & if I get out, I have two large animals pushing me back." Remus had spoken in nearly one breath. He finally forced himself to look at Lily. After glancing around to make sure no one would see, apart from the pack, he lifted the right side of his shirt. Lily saw scarring all along the ribs. Most looked like slashes but several looked like round holes had been punctured in his flesh. "Those round scars," Remus pointed at James. "His horns. I have lots of those. He beats me up a lot." He sent a scathing look at James who had just woken up.

"Eh whatever," James mumbled.

"How you feeling?" Lily asked.

James stared at her. "You stayed?"

"Where else would I go?" Lily shrugged. "I know all your secrets now."

James scoffed. "Will you please go out with me then?"

"Pathetic," Remus muttered to Sirius, Peter & Harry. All of them turned away, hiding smiles.

"No,' Lily said. Sirius, Remus, Peter & Harry all moved away from the pair, expecting yet another row. James however, seemed too tired to argue. Dejectedly, he lay back on his pillow. In that moment, he decided to give up on Lily for the first time in his life. "I may know a lot more about you all of a sudden," Lily went on. "But it's a lot to put together."

"Yeah," James sighed, turning his face away from her. "Whatever Evans."

Harry noticed a few tears in his father's eyes & realised he was looking at someone who just had his heart broken in so many pieces that it was unlikely they would fit back together properly again.

"I'd like it better if we just ...start," Lily added. "We're not even friends. Why would I date you? Just 'cause I know things about you doesn't mean I instantly like you. Let's just get to know each other first."

James looked back at her. "Take things slow you mean?"

"Well ...yeah, I guess," answered Lily. "Maybe in a year or two, we can talk about dates."

"Ok," James had brightened up a little. "That I can do."

Sirius, Remus & Peter were all gaping at the pair by now. Harry however, slipped away. He finally understood why his parents hadn't liked each other at first. It had been all the secrets. Now it seemed like they were on the same path & slowly but surely, drawing closer.

Those last few weeks were the best out of Harry's time shift. He was finally getting along with all the Marauders even though he was unable to join them on the last full moon. James was being extra nice to him, hoping to repair the damage he had done. Sirius found someone else to date on Valentine's Day, a very happy girl who was glad to be on his arm even for a moment. Harry even managed to stay civil with Peter.

Two days before Valentine's Day was the match between Gryffindor & Hufflepuff. Harry was able to watch his father & Godfather fly. They pulled stunts Harry himself had never dared. But they were both Chasers. He had hoped to watch James play Seeker, but perhaps coming here had changed a few minor things & James was suddenly a Chaser.

On the evening before Valentine's, Harry sought out Severus by the Slytherin dungeons. They had become good friends & Harry hoped the change would affect the future. But he was leaving for the future in a few hours; whereas, Severus wouldn't see it for a few years.

The moment Harry found him, Severus asked, "What's wrong Jason?" He watched him with unblinking black eyes as if reading Harry's very soul.

"I'm leaving," Harry said. "I'm going home tomorrow."

Severus sighed. "Write to me, won't you? And Lily?"

"I can't for a while," said Harry.

"I understand," Severus nodded. "Voldemort right?"

"Uh sort of," Harry evaded. "But we'll meet again. It will be several years though."

"Years?" Severus stared at him. "That long?"

"I'll explain everything when we meet up again," Harry said. "I'm going to look very different. This isn't me. I have glamours on me. It's to help me hide."

"I ... don't quite understand that," said Severus.

"I can't explain anything right now," said Harry. "But I will some day. Do you have the set of potions I gave you for Christmas?"

"Yeah it's in my bag," Severus sat down on a bench & pulled out the black chest. Opening it up, they could see the neat rows of vials clamped firmly into shaped holes in the velvet lined lid. Each vial was a different shape & color. The bottom half was filled with various ingredients to use, each in their own labelled container. "This is one of my favorites," Severus pointed at one of the containers that had a flower carved into its onyx lid. Harry understood why. It was a lily & his mother was the only other good friend Severus had.

Harry pulled out an empty vial from his own bag. "May I borrow that?" Severus pulled the small box out & handed it over. Harry dumped the ingredients into his vial & gave the vial to Severus who looked rather confused. He had expected Harry to take the ground ruby powder. "I'll give this box back to you when we meet again. That way you'll know it's me. Sev, please trust me on this. I can't tell you now."

Slowly, Severus took the vial & watched as Harry put the box with the lily carved on its lid into his own bag. They stared awkwardly at each other & after a slight hesitation; Harry moved forward & hugged Severus. "I'll see you really soon." At that, he let go, turned & ran away without a backwards glance.

That night, Harry didn't sleep. He packed a small box with things he would leave behind for when he returned to the future. He put in the Auror's book James had given him, the little onyx box with the lily on it, the Potions book filled with Lily's notes & a letter he had written to give to Dumbledore before going back. It would tell him what would happen in 1981.

The next morning, Harry dressed in the clothes he was wearing when he shifted & put the Map & Cloak under his robes. He went into the common room & glanced around. Frank, Alice & Philip were in one corner. Peter & Remus were playing exploding snap. Sirius was on the floor by the fire, writing something. Lily was curled up in the armchair, reading & James was sitting on the couch. Their eyes met & Harry waved as he moved by, making it look like he was heading out for breakfast. He wondered if that would be the last time he'd see his parents. Would this work?

Harry arrived at Dumbledore's office a short time later, having skipped breakfast. He gave the letter to Dumbledore first, explaining that it was important to keep his parents safe as well as Frank & Alice. It also mentioned telling Remus about teaching him the Patronus. Harry left a second note with Dumbledore for Remus. Then he gave the box packed with the items Harry had selected. Dumbledore would put it aside in a vault until the date in the future that Harry would arrive.

"Are you ready now?" Dumbledore asked, once Harry had gone over a few things for the umpteenth time.

Harry stared at the wall. He had done all he could. "Let's get this over with."

"Alright, stand over here," Dumbledore pointed to an open area on the carpet. He picked up a bottle from his desk & turned to Harry. They shared one last look.

"See you on the other side," said Harry as Dumbledore cast down the bottle at Harry's feet.

There was a bright flash of light once more amidst a mild explosion of glass, grey-blue smoke & bright red sparks. Harry was knocked off his feet. He landed hard on his face as he hit the carpet. He lay unmoving for a few moments, groaning, before he slowly got up to his hands & knees.

"You're ten seconds late," Dumbledore said.

"Sorry," Harry pushed himself up to stand. He looked at Dumbledore. He was still in the office.

Dumbledore got up from his desk & moved towards Harry. "Welcome back."

"Back?"

"To the future," Dumbledore said.

* * *

 _( **AN** : What? So I stole that movie's title. Shut up. LOL)_


	11. Chapter 11

_I wrote this a couple months before Alan Rickman died. Just realized now that Snape gets a big scene in the end of this ... RIP Alan Rickman!_

* * *

 **(11) Mental Shifts & Letters**

Harry walked out of the office, carrying the box he had put aside a few hours—so many years—ago. He went to Gryffindor Tower & was assaulted by Hermione & Ron the moment he entered the common room.

"Where have you been?" Ron demanded.

"Dumbledore said you had gone away on some mission," Hermione went on. "He didn't say you'd be gone for a couple of months though. You missed Christmas, not to mention a lot of classes! In OWL year to!"

"We took care of the extra classes," Ron went on. "Hermione started us on Patronus Charms."

"Why is Dumbledore's Army going?" Harry asked, wondering if Umbridge was still around.

"The Ministry is interfering with Hogwarts," Hermione explained. "They keep sending officials to check up on our studies & what we're allowed to study isn't very good. We started that so we can get through our OWL's. You missed a lot."

"Yeah but at least I didn't miss any classes apart from our private lessons we're doing," Harry sat down, putting the box to one side. "I just accidently time-traveled." He explained what had happened, as Ron & Hermione stared at him.

"You were with your parents?" Hermione asked under breath.

Harry opened his box. "This is from Dad." He pulled out the Auror book. "Mum's is the Potion one." He took that out as well. As they looked over both books, Harry pressed his hands to his forehead. A massive headache was coming on all of a sudden.

"Harry, I can't beli—Harry?" Ron was pushing him back into the chair Harry was half slipped out of. "What's wrong?"

"I don't feel good at all," Harry put his head between his knees. "I think I'm going to go to bed."

"I'll get Pomfrey," Hermione headed for the door while Ron helped Harry up the stairs to bed.

Harry didn't remember seeing Pomfrey come into the dorms. He had fallen asleep almost the moment his aching head hit the pillow. He dreamed he was back with his family, after they had finished school. He dreamed that he grew up with his family. It was so real that Harry thought that perhaps it was real. Then he dreamed about Aunt Petunia & Uncle Vernon. But this night vision was faded, full of discord & surreal.

Harry woke up to find himself in sick bay. Ron & Hermione were on his left, sitting on the next bed, looking worried. Sirius & a woman that looked familiar were sitting on his own bed on the right hand side. Harry knew he had always been with these people. He had very few memories of Aunt Petunia. They had met her with her new family a couple of times only, so many years ago. But Harry knew he never grew up with him. That felt like a dream now, not real.

"Well," Sirius sighed, patting Harry's hand. "You're finally awake."

"Dumbledore said this would happen," the woman added. "He said your memories will be so confused for a few days & you'll have headaches until they sort themselves out."

Harry stared at her, then suddenly sat bolt right up. "MUM?"

"Yeah," Lily laughed. "Don't worry, it'll all settle in a day or two."

"I thought you were dead," Harry began.

Lily raised her hand to silence him. "You'll keep memories of your other life but they'll feel like a dream. Your memories of this life are catching up to you & then you'll understand."

"We have no memory of that other life," Sirius said. "Dumbledore told us a little about them & that was based only on what you had told him, but they have been erased for all of us. You're the one who did the time shift, so that's why you'll retain memories of both. But you'll be the only one."

"Did you ever ..." Harry rubbed his brow. He felt the scar was still there. "Ever go to Azkaban?"

Sirius looked surprised. "Um, no. Why would I?" Harry explained to him what had happened in the other half of the time loop. Sirius shared a look with Lily. "That isn't quite how it happened now."

"Good," Harry looked over at his two friends.

"You & I grew up together," Ron said. "You never mentioned Azkaban before."

"We grew up together?" Harry stared at him. Memories of The Burrow flooded over him. He was often left with the Weasleys over summer holidays. He had seen the older children depart for Hogwarts, anxiously waiting for his turn along with Ron. "I kind of remember."

"It'll get better," said Hermione.

Harry stared at her a long time. "Memories of you are nearly the same though."

"Yeah," Hermione nodded. "I think it's 'cause I'm muggle-born. I simply wasn't around until we all met on the train the first time."

"We were still mean to you that first year."

"Yes," Hermione glared. "You both were."

"It's Levi OHHHH sa!" Ron laughed. "OW!" Hermione had punched his arm.

"You'll get a few more headaches as the mental shift completes," Sirius said. "Soon enough, your other life will seem but a dream." He handed over a small box. "Keep this handy. Madam Pomfrey made a few potions for you. They're all the same. It'll help with the headaches until they've passed."

Harry opened it up to find four of them. "Four?"

"We don't think you'll get too many," Lily said. "But don't worry. The potion takes only fifteen minutes to do if you do need more. You'll be fine."

Harry swung his legs out of bed & stood up. "Do you guys remember a Jason Dursley in your OWL year?"

Lily & Sirius both laughed. "Yeah we remember that brat all to well," Lily said.

"It's why I said I was gay, Mum. You were the last person I wanted to date & it had nothing to do with Dad."

"Yeah that would be an awkward position for you, wouldn't it?" Lily teased.

Harry glared at her. Both Lily & Sirius had stood up by now. They were standing side by side & holding hands. For some reason, Harry knew they were together anyway & had been for years. Some part of him told him that not all was perfect, only better than the first time around the loop.

As it was nearly lunch time, Pomfrey soon had shooed the entire group out of the hospital wing. For a while, things seemed more or less normal to Harry. He had another migraine late that afternoon as more memories shifted. It had happened when he had caught Sirius & Lily standing under the beech tree, entwined in each other's arms & kissing madly. Harry had turned & walked away, knowing he had seen them do that for years yet not quite understanding why at the moment. Then the next migraine had struck just as he reached the doors. He & his mother always had Sirius in their lives & when he was around five, Lily & Sirius had gotten married & three weeks later, they had saved Frank & Alice Longbottom by using a Fidelus Charm with Sirius as Secret Keeper. They had stayed hidden with their son for almost two years until Bellatrix was caught & put in Azkaban.

But something, or someone, was missing. It was one of the last memories to surface two days later. Harry was fast slipping into his new life as the shift settled & was glad to be rid of the migraines. He had gone nearly all day without one, but went to bed with his head pounding. His missing memory surfaced in his dreams.

" _He didn't tell us his plans, Harry," Sirius had told him._

 _"It was a complete surprise," Lily said._

" _To this day, we don't know why he let it happen," Remus shrugged helplessly. "We tried though. No one can say we didn't try."_

 **Flashback 1981**

"Mr. Potter? Can I see you in my office for a moment?" Dumbledore asked, catching up to James as people were leaving the Great Hall after lunch. It was a week before school would start & several Aurors, including Sirius, James & Lily, had shown up to secure the place before the students arrived.

James went alone with Dumbledore. "What's this about Sir?" James asked once the door closed behind them & both were settling into chairs.

"This," Dumbledore handed an old letter over. "It was given to me by Jason Dursley. Remember him?"

"How could I forget?" James scowled, taking the letter. He read over it, his face falling as he neared the end. "The traitor is Peter?" He gasped. "But ... no. That's impossible!"

"Jim," Dumbledore began.

"No! Jason told me! He said he didn't know who did it!"

"He lied, Jim."

"NONE OF MY FRIENDS WOULD DO THAT!" James bellowed, jumping to his feet. "Jason doesn't know who."

"He did," Dumbledore said. "He had to lie though to keep out of Time's way as much as possible. He let me know in the letter exactly what happens."

"But this can't be right!"

"There's more," Dumbledore held up an unopened envelope. "This was inside that letter but only you can open it up. It's from Jason as well."

James read through it more than once. He closed his eyes, pressing that letter to his heart. "Halloween? It's going to happen Halloween?"

"Well now that we know who's betraying us," said Dumbledore. "You'll be fine. I assume you'll use Sirius for real this time?"

James sighed heavily. "I need to talk to them. All of them."

"Be very careful what you say in front of Peter," Dumbledore warned. James nodded silently, staring at the floor. After a few minutes, Dumbledore went on. "By the way, do you mind if I borrow that Cloak of yours for a bit?"

James snapped out of his reverie. "Um yeah. Sure." He pulled the Death Cloak out of his pocket & put it on the desk.

James left & headed outside. A dark storm was brewing & a chill wind swept over the grounds. James glanced around before changing to Prongs & bounding into the forest. Once he was deep into the trees, he stopped running & switched back. He pulled out the letter Jason had left him.

Deer Dad,

What? I had to. Shut up! Anyway, Wormtail is working for Voldemort. I don't know when he switched sides or why, but he's the one who betrays you from where I come from. Sorry I lied but I was trying to stay out of the way as much as possible. Anyway, thanks to what Peter did, I ended up with a scar on my forehead since Voldemort's curse didn't work on me 'cause of what mother did. Her sacrifice created a shield that protected me & destroyed him. But Sirius ends up in Azkaban for twelve years instead of Peter. So just use Sirius this time. Or Remus. Stay away from Peter!

See you on the other side if all goes well!

Harry ...well Jason to you I guess.

James re-read the letter so much that he ended up having it memorised word for word. For the next few weeks, he pulled away from his friends & wife, thinking, planning. He missed August's full moon but showed up for September's since Remus growled at him the whole month every chance he got.

Dumbledore urged James & Lily to go into hiding sooner than later. By mid-October, the situation was getting desperate. James risked returning to Hogwarts one last time. He ran through the familiar corridors, cloak sailing behind him. He reached Dumbledore's office out of breath & clutching a stitch in his side.

Dumbledore glared at him. "That was a great & unnecessary risk coming here Mr, Potter!" He stood up quickly behind his desk. "What are you doing? I thought you would go into hiding by now."

"I will," James panted. "Tell me. If one dies for another, does that cause some sort of protection charm?"

"The power of love is the greatest shield of all," Dumbledore explained.

"So that's what happened to my son then?" asked James. "Since Lily offered herself in his place?"

"Yes," Dumbledore looked James over, feeling uneasy. "But neither of you have to die this time. We know it's Peter. Once you're in hiding, we can arrest Peter. He won't be able to go after you."

"Arrest him on November first."

"What?"

"Arrest him on November first," James repeated.

"We can move against him earlier," Dumbledore began.

"I know what I'm doing!" James snapped. Dumbledore glared at him. "November first. Not a second before!" Once he made Dumbledore promise, James turned & left. He wandered through the halls of his old school. Once on the grounds, he switched to Prongs & bounded through the forest.

Still as Prongs, he returned home, ending up on his front porch so late at night that Lily nearly hexed him. "Bloody stag!" Lily hissed. "What took you? Get in here!"

Thud! The horns were too big to fit through the door. James appeared, rubbing his head & looking pathetic. "Sorry," He stepped inside, kicked the door closed & pressed Lily between the wall & himself.

"Don't think that will get you out of trouble," Lily muttered after their kiss.

James tried to look more pathetic. "Sorry. I was a bit busy. Talked to Dumbledore." He headed upstairs to the nursery to check on Harry. The baby was sleeping soundly. James gazed down at him for a long time. He almost turned away but noticed Lily leaning in the doorway. He looked in the opposite direction so she wouldn't see his tears. "I'll come to bed in a moment." James headed into the small washroom attached to the nursery & closed the door.

He leaned on the counter over the sink, staring into the mirror. His mind kept replaying that one line in the letter Jason had written to him.

 _Her sacrifice created a shield that protected me & destroyed him._

Voldemort was destroyed that night. The war would end. What were the lives of two young people compared to the entire Wizarding World? Or did it have to be two? No. It didn't. So long as Harry was protected, no one else need die. James made his way back to the crib once he was sure Lily had gone on to their own bedroom. He looked down on his son. "I'm so sorry I beat you up," James whispered. "If I had only known ..." He stood back, wiping tears from his eyes. "I hope you forget that you hate me." When he had composed himself, he finally went to Lily's side.

She was already in bed, waiting for him. "You ok?"

James kept the lights off. It was better if she didn't see him right now. He lay down. "Fine. We're going to have to go under for a bit."

"I thought so," Lily sighed. The bed shifted as she moved to press against his back. "I hope this war ends soon, Jim."

"It will," James said lightly. "Go to sleep, love. We'll get the guys over tomorrow & set up a plan."

Lily soon drifted off but James lay awake most of the night, still planning & re-planning. When morning came, he had only dozed off so he was rather tired & irritable, waiting for the guys to appear. Peter showed up first. James ground his teeth but pretended to not know anything. Peter switched to Wormtail for Harry's amusement & the pair played together on the floor until Remus & Sirius showed up a few minutes later.

Once Peter returned to himself, James made the three of them sit on the couch while Lily sat on the floor by Harry. "Right," James began. He cleared his throat before going on. "We have to hide. We're doing a Fidelus Charm & two of you are going to be our Secret Keeper."

"Two?" Sirius raised a brow.

"One will be real & one will be fake," James felt that truer words had never been spoken & tried not to cast a glare at Peter. "I want a decoy. Wormtail."

"Yes?" Peter sat straight. Their eyes met.

"You're going to be my real Secret Keeper," James said. "Padfoot, you're the decoy."

"What are you doing?" Remus asked.

"We're going to tell everyone that Sirius is my Keeper," said James. "But we'll use Peter instead. No one will guess for a while."

Sirius stared at the opposite wall for a long time. "Does this have anything to do with that kid in school? Jason Dursley?"

"Yes," said James. "Dumbledore knows who the traitor is, thanks to Jason. He can capture him once Lily & I are out of the picture." Using his side vision, he watched Peter & noticed a slightly shocked look on him.

"Do you know?" Remus asked.

James decided to use the same tactic Harry had once used on him. "No, but a lot of evidence is pointing to you."

"Me?" Remus gasped softly as Sirius looked between him & James a few times. "You think I would betray you?"

"No," James smiled at him. "Everyone in this room knows what you are. So does Dumbledore. We know you're being set up. But do be careful. Maybe go into hiding yourself. We don't want you to get caught for something you didn't do." He was still discreetly watching Peter & saw with some satisfaction that Peter was relaxing. Good. Keep him guessing & confused. He will never know what hit him. "You can help me by spreading the idea that Sirius is my Keeper."

"Sounds like a good plan," Remus actually laughed a bit. "Only one of us Marauders would come up with the idea: two Secret Keepers for the price of one."

"How long do you think you'll be in hiding?" Sirius asked.

"Oh not too long," James shrugged. "Dumbledore reckons just a few weeks. I'll miss the next full moon so don't growl Moony. But I should be back before the one after comes around. In the meantime, Sirius can you create a safe house for Remus & make sure Lily knows about it?"

"I think it would be a good idea," Sirius patted Remus's hair.

"I'm not a pet," Remus muttered under breath but was ignored. "Why is Lily going to know the address?"

"Mostly 'cause of Harry," said James. "I don't think the baby should be separated from his family. The less we know of each other's positions the better, but Lily should know all of them so she can bring Harry around to visit everyone & both will still be safe."

"Good idea," Sirius said. "Peter can help—"

"No," James said almost too quickly. "Harry is the main target. Peter will know only this place while you Sirius, will take care of the other. Divide & conquer." He smiled, trying to pass the last comment off as a joke.

"Ok," Sirius gave up. "You the boss. When are we putting up the charms then?"

"After lunch," James said. "We should all have lunch together first."

James was the only one who knew it would be the last time the entire pack would be together. Once this was over, everyone would know what Peter was. For tonight, James acted as if they were all friends & for a while, it felt like old times. As if they were back in school. Before Peter switched sides ... perhaps. James watched Sirius & Remus leave. They disappeared on his front lawn, apparating away. He knew he would never see them again. He turned to Peter & together they set up the Fidelus Charm. James knowingly & willingly put his trust into their traitor.

That final week with his family, James played with Harry any chance he got & made love to Lily every night. Halloween dawned on the last day of his life all too soon. He kept Lily close to him & they stayed in bed until past noon. It was a cold & rainy day. James was soon faced with the daunting task of getting rid of Lily. Once she was gone, they would never meet again. He put it off until the last possible second. He watched Lily & Harry sitting on the floor in the nursery, playing with a plush dinosaur.

James stepped out into the hall & leaned against the wall by the door. He slid down to the floor. It was done. They were finished. He had to send her away now. James felt his heart skip a beat. He would never touch Lily again, never see her with their son again. Never see Harry again. But they would live. He slowly picked himself up & forced himself back into the nursery.

"Li ..." James choked on his own voice. "Erm ... Lily?" She looked up at him. "Um, potentially stupid question, but ... but could you go to Paddy's house?"

"Uh sure," Lily stood up, Harry in her arms. "Why?"

"I had told Dumbledore to give my Cloak to Sirius when he was finished with it," James made up some excuse. "But stupid me, I don't remember where Sirius is right now since he's hiding with Remus & I'm not a Keeper. Also, I have a bottle of Firewhiskey I was supposed to give him. How about you all have a quick drink to my stupidity before coming back?" He added with a laugh.

"You really are an idiot," Lily laughed at him. "Let me get Harry dressed."

James hadn't planned on that. He needed Harry. "Um no. I'm giving you Firewhiskey for Sirius. I think Harry should stay here." They shared a look. "You know how lush Sirius is. You can bring Harry next time."

"Good point," Lily said. "It will be even worse if Remus gets some. Liquor & Lycan symbionts don't mix. Ray can get so sick after just a few shots."

"I know right?" James snickered. "Bloody pathetic."

James watched Lily get ready. He watched her hold Harry for a short time before putting him in the crib. He followed her downstairs, then switched to Prongs when they stepped outside onto the porch. Lily patted his nose & rubbed his horns before going into the lawn & disapparating. Prongs stared at the spot with his large wide eyes. Lily was gone. She would come back to a mess with his dead body at the center of it. The great stag let out a bugle that echoed over the valley as he collapsed on the porch. His nose touched the wooden floor, as he lay there, collecting his wits. The horns stretched to either side of the porch. After several minutes, Prongs heaved a sigh, lurched to his hooves & switched to James.

"Well that's it," James looked up at the stars one last time. He went inside & hurried up to the nursery. Harry was standing up in the crib looking at him. James picked him up. "I'm so sorry little one. But I can't stay. You'll have your mother though." He heard a thud & something crashing. The front door had blasted open. James swore under breath. "Peter! How could you?" James spun around, glaring at the closed door of the nursery, holding Harry tightly. "But I get the last laugh. Just you wait."

"Where is he?"

"Upstairs fool! Upstairs."

There was more thudding & someone came upstairs. As the door opened, James put Harry into his crib. "Good bye, little one." He turned back to face Voldemort himself. "Not Harry! Please! Leave him alone. He's just a baby!" He stood in front of the crib, arms spread wide. There was a flash of green & James fell, never to get up again.

Sirius opened the door. "Lily? What are you doing here?"

"Jim sent me to pick up his cloak," Lily said as Sirius let her inside. "Also to give you this." She handed over the bottle.

"Ooo Happy Halloween indeed!" Sirius wagged his brow at the bottle.

Remus was stretched out on the sofa, eating Halloween candy. "I don't remember seeing any of Jim's stuff here."

"Look at you," Lily mock-glared. "Over grown puppy." She patted his head, earning a low growl. Without warning, Sirius tossed him the bottle & only his quick werewolf reflexes saved the thing from smashing on the floor.

"Good catch," Sirius teased.

"I'm not a pet!"

No body cared. Still snickering, Sirius began rummaging around, looking for anything that might not belong. "Which cloak is it?"

"His Invisibility Cloak," Lily said.

Sirius straightened up & turned to look at her. "Oh that's at Hogwarts with Dumbledore. Not here."

"He said that Dumbledore brought it over to you."

"How?" Sirius held up his hands. "The only ones who know about this place are you two & me. Dumbledore still has that Cloak."

"Perhaps before you put up this charm?" Lily suggested.

Sirius shook his head. "No I haven't seen Dumbledore for ages. I wonder why Jim didn't grab it before putting Potter Manor under the Fidelus."

Lily stared at him. "You can't know that. I never told you!"

"Know what?" Sirius asked, slightly confused.

There was a crash of glass as Remus jumped to his feet. "I know it to!"

"Know what?" Sirius insisted.

"Pads, where does Lily & Jim live?"

"At the Pot—" Sirius's voice died in his throat. He had suddenly remembered where James lived. The three of them stared horrified at each other before apparating away.

Lily screamed the moment they landed on the lawn. Looking up, they saw the top right half of the house was gone. "JAMES!" Lily had dashed forward but Remus was faster.

Holding her tightly, Remus said. "Not yet. They might still be here."

"No NO!" Lily was almost too strong even for the werewolf. "JAMES! HAROLD!"

Sirius switched to Padfoot & ran inside. The stand in the hall had been knocked over & the vase smashed. There were track marks leading upstairs. Padfoot bounded up them, heading for the nursery. A greenish glow still hung in the air. Sirius reappeared & stared at the half open door. He heard a gurgle & then something that sounded like a sob. It was as if Harry was wondering whether or not he should cry for attention. But it was all Sirius needed. He turned & bellowed down the stairs, "HE'S ALRIGHT! HARRY'S FINE!"

As Remus & Lily appeared at the bottom of the stairs, Sirius went back to the nursery, kicked the door open & ran inside. He stopped dead in his tracks. "Jim?" He gasped, staring at James lying on the floor, unmoving. Sirius knelt down & shook him but there was no response. "Prongs ... please. Don't do this! Prongs!" Sirius passed both hands through his hair. "Oh no! No!"

"Padfoot what's wrong?" Remus asked as he came in.

Sirius jumped to his feet, ran past Remus & shoved Lily back into the hall. Remus stared at James lying on his back on the floor, in front of the crib. His cry sounded more canine than human.

"Oo'ee!" Harry held up his hands, trying to say Moony.

Remus fell to his knees. After a moment, he took off his coat & covered James. He could hear Lily & Sirius fighting behind him but it was distant. All he could think of was that his stag was dead. Prongs would never more run with him. He snapped back to reality as Lily, who had finally broken free of Sirius, bowled him over & collapsed over James, sobbing hard against his chest. Remus stood up & took Harry as Hagrid showed up.

"What happened?" Hagrid demanded.

"Peter betrayed us!" Sirius gasped.

"But ...but you were Jim's Secret Keeper."

"No, I'm Ray's Keeper," said Sirius. "Peter was Jim's. I'm going to kill Peter!"

Remus handed Harry to Hagrid. "Take care of them. We'll get Peter!" He barely grabbed Sirius's hand in time as he apparated out of there.

They searched for Peter well into the next day. Sirius finally cornered him in the street but as he raised his wand, there was a blast & Sirius was thrown from his feet. When he recovered, he found himself at the base of a crater with several dead bodies in disarray around him. Glancing to his left, he saw a rat scurry up the rubble to disappear.

"STUPEFY!" Remus leaped onto the edge. He bent down & grabbed Wormtail by the tail, then slipped down the edge towards Sirius. He glanced around. "What a mess."

"Moony," Sirius gasped softly between tears. "It was him. Not me."

"I know Pads," Remus clutched the stunned rat more tightly. "I got him."

"It was him all along!" Sirius burst into tears. "I can't believe it! James is dead!"

Remus crouched down beside him & petted back Sirius's hair with his free hand. "We still have Lily & Har—Padfoot? Why do we still have Harry?"

"What do you mean?" Sirius wiped away tears, shooting a dark look at the rat.

"Well, Harry's still alive," Remus explained.

Sirius stared at him. "I don't know!"

 **End flashback.**

Harry woke up, feeling better. He got out of bed & went downstairs. At first he was heading towards breakfast, but then he made a detour & went to the Trophy Room. He didn't expect to see it so was a little surprised to find the golden shield for James Potter being a Seeker after all. Harry stared at it in confusion before finally going to the Great Hall & sitting down to breakfast at last.

Lily sat down beside him. "This just came in," she gave him a letter. "Jim had put it in our vault but sealed it until now. It explains why he did what he did."

Harry took it. "Mum, when did Dad play Seeker?"

"He took over the position when Cynthia finished her final year," Lily explained. "He was in sixth year at the time so it was after you left. He stayed Seeker for his last two years."

"Ohh that's how it happened," Harry finally clued in. Of course. One was not guaranteed the same position every year. In fact, one was not guaranteed to even be on the team from one year to the next. He turned to the letter.

Dear Harry,

I'm sorry I can't be there. I took your mother's place & I used Peter, knowing what he would do. You see Harry, the war ended that night. If I had allowed all of us to live, a lot more would have died & we'd still be fighting in that same war if we all lived. It had to end. I covered you which is why you survived. I'm really sorry I beat you up "Jason". I know 'just a kid' & 'I didn't know' aren't excuses, but I hope someday you can forgive me for that. In the mean time, take care of 'my girl' for me. I hope you like my old ring. The sign on it is for my, well I guess it's yours now, the cloak anyway & the family initial. You'll get another letter from me when you're of age about all that by the way.

Good bye.

Dad

Harry tipped the envelope over & out slipped the very same ring he had seen James wearing so long ago in the Great Hall. It was a gold band with an onyx stone with a triangle cut into it. Inside the triangle was a fancy P for what Harry thought to be Potter. He rubbed his forehead, feeling another headache coming on. He remembered that he had pitted Sirius & Lily together, hoping Sirius would take over for James & marry Lily. It had taken some time & Harry was nearly five years old, but they were together now.

"Was there no way to save him?" Harry sighed, putting the letter on the table beside his plate. He held the ring in his hands, looking down at it. He wondered if he could ever wear it as the thing was far too big for his fingers.

"He wanted the war to end," answered Lily. "If he had told us, maybe we could have come up with something."

"I guess there just wasn't enough ...time," Harry had to smile a moment at the irony. He looked up at Lily. "Out of that entire gang you just had to marry two of the worst ones, didn't you?"

Lily laughed out loud. "Sirius settled a bit as he got older," she began. Then looking pointedly at Harry, she added, "As did your father."

Harry looked across the table at a young girl. Her hair was a darker red than Lily's & she looked a lot like Sirius. She was in her first year. "Hi Annette."

"You remember your sister now?" Lily asked. Harry nodded. Annette was his half sister actually, with Sirius as her father.

Harry looked across the hall at the Slytherin table. A boy about thirteen caught his eye & waved back. He looked exactly like James but with a deep mahogany tinge to his dark brown hair & just like Annette, he didn't wear glasses. Unlike Annette who was a half-sibling, he was another son from James & a full blood brother of Harry. "That's Jason right?" Harry asked Lily. "You got pregnant during that last week, then named him after my alter ego."

"Mhm."

"But he's Slytherin," Harry protested.

"So is your paternal grandmother," Lily pointed out.

Harry knew that Dorea Black Potter was Slytherin whereas Charlus Potter had been Gryffindor. With a sudden pang, Harry realised that his father never met the real Jason & most likely never even knew. "At least he keeps Draco off my case," Harry remembered that he still didn't like Draco but didn't have as many problems with him, all thanks to Jason keeping the blond in line. He felt a sudden pressure on his right middle finger. He had slipped the ring on without thinking but it had shrunk in size & fit snugly enough so that it wouldn't slip off.

"I think you're caught up by now," Lily smiled as she stood up. "See you in class." She patted his head as she moved towards the Staff Table.

The first class was Defence Against The Dark Arts. Harry knew Umbridge wasn't there. The scar on his hand had disappeared to. He opened the door to find Lily Evans Potter …or rather Black now...sitting behind the teacher's desk. He soon realised how Remus felt, being stuck with a parent for a teacher. Lily was a good teacher none the less, but it was potions Harry was anxious for.

Snape was his usual horrible self throughout the lesson, but Harry waited. He stayed in the back & sent Ron & Hermione away once the lesson was over. After everyone else had left, Harry got up & approached the desk.

"What is it now, Potter?" was Snape's gruff retort.

"I made a certain potion for you," Harry began.

"Leave your vial on my desk," Snape muttered. "But there is of course, no extra credit for potions not required."

"I didn't do it for extra credit," Harry said. He put a small black box with a lily carved into it on the desk.

Snape stared at it for a long time, then at Harry. "Where did you get that?"

Harry held up the vial, uncorked it & drank it down in one gulp. Snape shot to his feet. Harry put the empty vial on the desk. "I told you a few days ago, well from my point of view, that we would meet again. I said it would be years for you. I said I would look different. That was in our fifth year. This glamour will only last an hour."

"How dare you take his—"

"Explain how I'm not losing any points even though I disappeared for a bit?" Harry went on. "Dumbledore saved my work so many years ago & reintegrated them into this year. He's going to talk to you about that tonight. I told him I wanted to bring that," he pointed at the box. "back to you first." They stared at each other. "It's ok. It's me ... Sev. It's me. Now you know why I'm better at potions. You taught me, so many years ago."

Snape wavered & crashed onto the floor. He had attempted to sit on his chair but missed by an inch. Harry hurried around the desk as Snape floundered about like an eel, trying to right himself & get his robes straight. Harry bent down to help him.

"That—this—that!" Snape gasped. "How is this possible?"

Harry put an arm under Snape & helped him up. "I accidently time-traveled from my fifth year here to yours back then."

"Time travel? TIME TRAVEL!"

At that moment, the door opened & Dumbledore came in. "Ah I see you've found your old friend, Severus."

Snape just glared. "But ...but...but this is Potter's brat!"

"Lily's to," Dumbledore said. He handed over some rolls of parchment.

"Jason & Potter didn't get along," Snape went on. "How could he be his kid?"

"Dad beat me up," Harry said. "Of course, he didn't know who I was at the time but I ended up not liking him too much back then." Snape stared at him.

"Well, now that you two have found each other again," Dumbledore went on. "Severus, can you teach your old friend some Occlumency? I think Harry here could use it."

"This is outrageous!" Snape spluttered.

"I knew you'd approve," Dumbledore smiled as Harry burst out laughing.

"He hasn't changed one bit over the years, has he?" Harry teased. He made to follow Dumbledore out. "G'night Sev. I'll see you tomorrow evening?"

"It's Professor to you!"

"Ok Professor Sev." Harry closed the door, still laughing. Snape glared at it, then checked behind him so he was sure he would land in the chair this time. He unrolled the parchments, only to find the old marks of Jason Dursley as well as a letter from Dumbledore himself explaining exactly what happened. Snape rubbed his brow with both hands. No way he'd admit he was friends with Jason ...Harry...in public, even if he didn't have to hide that fact from Voldemort. It was just to humiliating right now.

But alone during Occlumency lessons, Snape slowly but surely warmed up to his old school friend. Dumbledore was the only other one to know. Perhaps in the future, when this second war ended, Snape could show his better to side to others. But for now?

Only time could tell.

 _~~The End_

* * *

 _(That ought to clear things up of book vs. movie James playing Quidditch. Hope that made sense!)_


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